UPDATE: Missouri Governor Repeals Portion of Law Prohibiting Private Interactions Between Teachers and Students on the Internet

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed a bill that repeals part of the Amy Hestir Student Protect Act, which prohibited private internet interactions between teachers and students. As you will recall, the law was determined to likely be unconstitutional and a judge issued an injunction temporarily preventing the law from taking effect. See 8/31 blog post, "UPDATE: Missouri Law Prohibits Private Interactions Between Teachers and Students on the Internet, But State Court Finds the Law Likely Violates Right to Freedom of Speech."

Although schools have an interest in preventing inappropriate contact between teachers and students, the First Amendment Rights of those teachers and students are also an important issue to weigh when making legal and policy decisions whether and how to regulate teacher and student interactions.

For additional background, see 8/9 blog post, "Missouri Law Prohibits Private Interactions Between Teachers and Students on the Internet."

Meghan Covert Russell

Attempt to Fix the Open Enrollment Act Vetoed by Governor Brown

AB 47 would have addressed some flaws in the Open Enrollment Act (aka the Romero Bill) but was vetoed by Governor Brown on October 8, 2011. The Open Enrollment Act was enacted last year in the wake of legislative flurry to enact Race to the Top legislation. The Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to identify a list of 1000 “low-performing” schools ranked by API scores, limits any one district’ schools on the list to 10% and exempts charters and other specified schools from the list.

During its first year of implementation in 2010-11, the list of 1000 schools included a number of high performing schools with API scores of 800 and above as well as a number of special education programs. In 2010, at least 96 of these schools requested and received a waiver from the Act’s provisions. An additional 103 low performing charter schools were excluded from the list.

AB 47 would have required a list of up to 1000 schools rather than a total of 1000 schools. It also would have excluded any school with an API over 700 or that had growth of 50 points or more from the list; and would have included charter schools but excluded special education programs.

While the bill had considerable education community support, passage of the bill was based on a clear party line vote. Perhaps the Legislature will try again next year and Governor Brown will change his mind, allowing the flaws to be fixed while maintaining the original intent of the Open Enrollment Act.

Sally Jensen Dutcher

Governor Vetoes AB 165-Student Fees Bill

AB 165 codified the state constitutional right to a free public education by prohibiting school districts from charging fees for classes and extracurricular activities. It also included new onerous enforcement mechanisms for districts and complaint procedures for parents.

In his veto message on October 8, Governor Brown said district compliance with this right is essential and districts should be held accountable, but this bill took the wrong approach. He stated that “the bill would mandate that every single classroom in California would mandate that every single classroom in California post a detailed notice and all 1042 school districts and 1200 charter schools follow specific complaint, hearing and audit procedures, even where there have been no complaints, let alone evidence of any violation. This goes too far.”

It appears the veto will require the parties to the ACLU lawsuit to go back to court or participate in further settlement discussions. In the meantime, districts should continue to review their student fees practices to ensure compliance but they can enjoy a reprieve from the onerous enforcement mechanisms in AB 165. For additional analysis and discussion please see our Legal Alert.

Sally Jensen Dutcher

The California School Boards Association (CSBA), the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), the Los Angeles Unified School District, the San Francisco Unified School District and other school officials announced yesterday that they have filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against the State over an alleged $2.1 billion education funding deficit. The suit seeks a recalculation of the Proposition 98 formula that determines how much funding schools receive annually.

Notably, the California Teachers Association (CTA) is not part of this lawsuit. Last summer, the Governor and state lawmakers struck a last-minute budget deal, with the blessing of CTA, which included provisions restricting further teacher layoffs and a retroactive payment promise if California voters do not approve a tax increases next year.

In similar news, The Arc of California and the United Cerebral Palsy Association of San Diego, both advocacy groups for the disabled, also filed suit against the State over budget cuts that have affected services provided to developmentally or physically disabled persons.

For more information on these two suits, see coverage here.

Meghan Covert Russell

Schools Planning to Sue State over Education Funding

The California School Boards Association (CSBA), the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and school districts will hold a press conference this morning to explain their case for suing the state over the $2.1 billion in education funding that they believe should have been provided in the budget pursuant to estimates under Proposition 98.

KMTG will follow the news and keep you posted.

Meghan Covert Russell

President Unveils Plan to Provide NCLB Waivers

Last week the President unveiled a plan to provide states with flexibility from the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The waiver discards the 2014 proficiency deadline originally set forth under NCLB. In order to qualify for a waiver states must demonstrate that they have a plan to address the following three areas:

• Transitioning to college and career-ready standards and assessments;
• Developing systems of differentiated recognition, accountability and support; and
• Evaluating and supporting teacher and principal effectiveness.

The waiver would be in effect through 2014, in an attempt to allow states time while Congress attempts to complete an ESEA-reauthorization bill.

More information is available on the Department of Education’s Blog.

Meghan Covert Russell

US Department of Education Releases Final Regulations for Part C of the IDEA

The US Department of Education has finalized regulations that pertain to the Early Intervention Program under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which was amended in 2004. Part C is a $436 million program administered by the states that serves infants and toddlers up to age two who are diagnosed with physical or mental disabilities that may result in developmental delays.

As educators know, early identification and treatment of children with disabilities is essential for their later success. These regulations provide over 900 pages of guidance for individuals who work with children under Part C of the IDEA.

For more information please visit the US Department of Education’s website.

The final regulations are available online and will be published in the Federal Registrar: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/reg/idea/part-c/idea-part-c-final-regs.pdf

Meghan Russell Covert