Latest news with #HouseEducationCommittee
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Missouri lawmakers add grade-level performance to standardized test results
State Rep. Brad Pollitt, a Sedalia Republican, presents a bill to the House Education Committee to require the reporting of grade-level equivalence data on statewide assessments (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). Missouri parents may soon have a better understanding of whether their child is performing at or above grade level on the state's standardized test under a sweeping education bill awaiting the governor's signature. The legislation contains a provision that would require the state's education department to add a fifth category to Missouri Assessment Program results, reporting 'grade level' in addition to the current levels of 'below basic,' 'basic,' 'proficient' and 'advanced.' The new provision would include students in grades 3 to 8. CONTACT US State Rep. Brad Pollitt, a Sedalia Republican and former school superintendent, introduced the bill to make student performance more transparent to parents and lawmakers. As an educator, he learned that students at grade level score at the upper end of 'basic,' but many people incorrectly assume 'proficient' means performing at grade level, he told The Independent. 'In order to have accurate conversations about where our students are at, we need to know what grade level is,' he said. The Missouri Assessment Program, often referred to as the MAP test, began in the 1990s with five scoring thresholds. But in response to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, state lawmakers required the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to align MAP with federal performance standards. In December 2005, educators met to determine the new standards in line with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. They set thresholds based on the percentage of students scoring proficient on the NAEP so that the proportion of students deemed proficient on the state test would be close to the amount reported by the national test. The National Center for Educational Statistics and the NAEP's governing board have repeatedly clarified that proficiency reflects 'solid academic performance' and 'does not signify being on grade level.' But policymakers, parents and other stakeholders speak about proficiency and grade level interchangeably. And candidates for public office, misinterpreting what proficient means, have used MAP data to push anti-public-education policies. During former state Sen. Bill Eigel's run for governor last year, he told ABC17 that 'less than a third of our children are able to do reading, writing, arithmetic at grade level.' At the time, 33% of Missouri fourth graders scored proficient or advanced in reading on the NAEP, and math had higher performance levels. Despite the test's administrators explaining that this is not a measure of grade level performance, politicians and media reports still repeat the misrepresentation. 'Part of my frustration has been that people criticize public education pretty hard and say we're failing our kids because 35% of our students in third grade or fifth grade are proficient or advanced in reading,' Pollitt said. 'We may have 35% that are above grade level, but maybe 60% of our kids are at grade level. And I think that changes the conversation.' In a House committee hearing in January, lobbyists for public-education groups spoke in favor of the bill. Brandt Shields, director of governmental relations for the Missouri School Boards' Association, said a fifth category would be more 'informative' for stakeholders. 'Having only four categories is almost a crude way of trying to differentiate how those scores are interpreted,' he said. No one spoke in opposition, but the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's lobbyist warned that the change would require work groups to set the new standards, which is estimated to cost just over $1 million. The language passed by the legislature exempts the department from having to employ work groups, but Pollitt said it is up to administrators to decide. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bipartisan bill would require daily moment of silence in Ohio schools
School lockers in a hallway. Getty Images. A proposed bill would require Ohio school districts to have a moment of silence every day. Ohio state Reps. Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, gave sponsor testimony on House Bill 187 Tuesday during the House Education Committee. State law currently allows teachers to have a moment of silence in the classroom, so this bill would change one word in the law — from may to shall, creating a new mandate. The bill leaves the implementation up to the teacher. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'This bill does not ask for much and is extremely non-prescriptive,' Click said in his sponsor testimony. 'It does not say where, when, or how long. It just says simply a moment. … Mindfulness is becoming a lost art in the hustle and bustle of modern society and is a discipline worth teaching.' Students are constantly being bombarded with technology, Synenberg said. 'While we as lawmakers can't solve every mental health challenge students face, we do have the ability to create a space for a brief opportunity of peace and quiet,' he said. Students have the right to leave the classroom if they do not wish to participate in the moment of silence under the bill, but Synenberg said the legislation can't prevent a student who chooses not to participate from getting bullied or made fun of. 'That will have to be dealt with on an individual basis by the teachers (and) administration at school,' he said. 'Hopefully, students are not going to do that. I'm sure it could happen, but we unfortunately can't prevent that.' Lawmakers on the committee had a lively discussion weighing the pros and cons of the bill. 'We've been having a lot of discussion in the committee so far about how to roll back some of the mandates and regulations in our schools, and obviously this one says shall, as opposed to may,' Education Committee Chair Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Ashtabula, said. 'So how do you propose that fits into the context of trying to be less burdensome and not adding costs to the local districts?' Click responded by saying there would be no cost to this bill. 'This could be defined as a mandate,' Synenberg said. 'It is sort of an anti-mandate mandate. So it's do this, but really what we are having you do is for a small part of the day telling you don't have to teach, you don't have to instruct, you don't have to be disciplining students. You'll just be present with your students for that time.' State Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, asked what currently prevents a school from having a daily moment of silence? 'There's nothing that prevents them,' Click said. 'And yet, for some reason, not everyone does, and we just think it would be a good practice to implement across the state in every school.' State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan, D-Parma, said he would occasionally do a moment of silence in his classroom. 'In today's day and age — with the mental health crisis that we have on our hands — I think it's wise,' he said. Brennan asked the lawmakers how having a daily moment of silence could help students foster mindfulness, empathy, and gratitude. 'I don't know if our young people are consistently taught the value of just being still,' Click said. 'I think that is a discipline that is worth teaching, and some teachers might want to expand on that and teach their students how to meditate.' Ohio's new religious release time law — which passed during the last General Assembly — also changed one word in the law from may to shall, requiring school districts to come up with a religious release time policy. Click sponsored a religious release time bill and language from that bill was eventually added to another education bill that was later signed into law by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this year. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DE state rep working with expired teaching license removed from House Education Committee
Rep. Sherae'a "Rae" Moore has been removed as vice-chair of the state House Education Committee, according to a statement issued by Delaware House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown. Moore's removal comes a little over three weeks after Delaware Online/The News Journal published an investigation that found her among more than 400 public school educators who were working with expired or missing licenses in March. The Middletown Democrat had also not disclosed this while her committee considered legislation surrounding the same subject, as previously reported and noted by Minor-Brown. Moore could not be immediately reached for comment on May 14. READ THE FULL INVESTIGATION: Hundreds of Delaware teachers found to be working on expired licenses in public schools Minor-Brown, in her statement issued late May 13, said it was her responsibility to uphold the integrity of the state's legislative process, especially in areas that impact the lives of children, families and educators. Her decision to remove Moore from this committee came after consulting with House leadership. "Representative Moore has held a leadership role on a committee that plays a critical part in shaping the policies that affect Delaware's students and educators," she said in her statement. "With that role comes the duty to uphold transparency and serve as a model of accountability." Moore's actions did not reflect those shared values, Minor-Brown said, adding no one should be shaping state education standards if they are not willing "to hold themselves to those same standards." Moore's teaching experience began as a second career about seven years ago, but she came to Appoquinimink School District last school year. She was elected to her house seat for the first time in 2020. As Delaware Online/The News Journal's reporting began in March, the lawmaker appeared to be working as a special education teacher at Louis L. Redding Middle School on a paraeducator permit and a teaching license that had expired in 2020. She also did not appear to have achieved an active certification to teach students with disabilities at any point, according to the state database tracking this information. In an interview on March 28, Moore told Delaware Online/The News Journal she was accepted and enrolled in a Wilmington University ARTC program in August 2024, to begin satisfying state teacher licensing requirements. She shared a Student Enrollment Services email thanking her for her application. Some seven months into this school year, the Department of Education had no record of Moore starting a program, which should have resulted in updates to the state database. Then, on April 7, Appoquinimink uploaded a "Welcome Letter" from Wilmington University's Special Education Teacher program, dated April 2, 2025. The letter showed all upcoming courses and requirements unmet. As this developed, House Education Committee chair Rep. Kim Williams drafted legislation to tighten measures that any public school employee must have a valid permit or license to work unsupervised with students, with certain exceptions for support staff. Because the state provides 70% of a licensed public school teacher's salary, the proposal also gives the state the power to claw back money from districts and charters if they intentionally retain an employee for more than 90 days after hire without a valid, required credential. During an April 9 House Education Committee hearing discussing House Bill 97, Moore shared concerns about teachers caught up in delays on the part of universities. During that discussion, all of her questions surrounded this concern. But when prompted, she directly denied the issue being about her. "If she believed there were flaws or inequities, she could have used her position to advocate for changes," Minor-Brown said. "Instead, she remained silent until she proposed an amendment to an education bill that would have personally benefited her own certification status. That action undermined the integrity of our committee process." The bill is now on track to head to the full Senate floor, having already passed in the House. Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@ Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@ or (231) 622-2191. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware representative booted from state House Education Committee
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Michigan lawmakers hear out fetal income tax exemption
Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Odessa Township) speaks at a House Education Committee meeting at Sterling Heights High School on March 11, 2024. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols) Michigan lawmakers discussed the mechanics of a tax exemption that would put fetuses on par with children when claiming dependents on taxes. House Bill 4202 would allow individuals who have a physician's verification that they are at least 10 weeks pregnant by the end of the tax year to claim their fetus as a dependent. It's a straightforward 'pro-family' bill, the bill's sponsor Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Orion) told members of the state House Finance committee Tuesday. Johnsen said the bill would work to recognize the financial responsibilities that residents endure during pregnancy and promote growth in the state economy as families are incentivized to grow. 'This bill does not create a new entitlement. It does not expand government bureaucracy, and it does not affect Michigan's legal definitions related to personhood or abortion. It simply applies the same logic and fairness we already use for children born or lost late in the year to a pregnancy that is ongoing under medical care,' Johnsen said. 'This is a modest but meaningful bill that gives expecting mothers an added measure of support without creating a new program or imposing additional burdens on the state.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Though bills to offer tax relief during pregnancy can sound like a positive thing for residents, it's a common undercover tactic for state-level attempts to establish 'fetal personhood' in order to chip away at abortion rights, Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in a memo at the start of last year. Other 'fetal personhood' bills can look like efforts to allow pregnant people to pursue child support after conception and separate criminal and civil penalties for death of fetuses, placing the same level of personhood on fetuses as children. 'Legislative tactics and messaging of the fetal personhood movement may change, but the goal is the same — to control people's bodies, limit their health care choices, and criminalize people for having abortions,' Planned Parenthood Action Fund's memo says. 'These laws are not about supporting pregnant people…Instead, they are purposefully sowing confusion and slowly chipping away at people's rights to make reproductive health decisions.' Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport) inquired if there was room to adjust the minimum weeks required under the exemption noting that under the bill's rules a person could claim the tax exemption at the end of the year and promptly terminate the pregnancy in the 11th week of pregnancy or beyond. Johnsen noted that the 10 week minimum was already a compromise. About 93% of all abortions in the U.S. are initiated within the first trimester, or 13 weeks of pregnancy, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi) said she had some reservations on the bill but would be interested in seeing it tie-barred to only pass if the 'Momnibus' package, addressing disproportionate maternal mortality for moms of color, also passes the Legislature. Breen proposed an amendment to tie-bar the bills, though it was voted down by Republican committee members. 'Thank you to the sponsor for recognizing the need for additional supports for pregnant women and working moms…There's a lot of good that could come from the 'Momnibus' package, and that's why I've asked for this amendment to tie bar your bill to it,' Breen said before the vote on her amendment.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Effort to provide free tampons, pads in school women's restrooms moves in the House
A bill to provide free sanitary products in school women's restrooms advanced from an appropriations subcommittee Monday. (Photo by) Lawmakers advanced a proposal Monday to provide state funding for schools to stock free feminine hygiene products in women's restrooms — but it may have a hard time making it to the finish line this session. House File 883 would provide state funding for schools to have menstrual products like tampons and sanitary pads available in school women's bathrooms for 6th through 12th grade students from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028. The bill had received approval in March from the House Education Committee, but had not been discussed in the months since. At a House appropriations subcommittee meeting Monday, Angela Caulk with the Family Planning Council of Iowa, thanked lawmakers for their work 'behind the scenes' on the bill, ensuring that it was still in the discussion. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Just as a woman and someone who was a teenager, I just want to thank you all for this, because I think it can make a big difference,' she said. In earlier meetings on the bill, students and supporters said providing these products for free in school restrooms will help low-income students and help reduce chronic absenteeism at Iowa schools. The measure was brought up in part because of advocacy efforts by the nonprofit Love for Red, an organization focused on providing free sanitary products. Students who created the nonprofit alongside their school counselor said a pilot program providing these products for free led to a reduction in female student absences. Rep. Amy Nielsen, D-North Liberty, questioned if the funding for the proposal was coming from State Supplemental Aid (SSA), the per-pupil funding for Iowa's K-12 schools — but Rep. Devon Wood, R-New Market, said it was her understanding this proposal would provide new funding from fiscal years 2026 through 2028. The legislation states that after 2028, funding for the measure would come from SSA. The legislation does not set an exact allocation for providing these products, but states 'an amount necessary to fund the full cost of compliance' will come from the state's general fund for the 2026-2028 time period. Wood said she understood questions about the exact funding for this measure, but said the measure will provide needed support for students in difficult situations. 'I think that's an important question to note, so we make sure we know where we're at, budgetarily, going forward with this,' Wood said. 'But I think if this is something that we can do … we do need to assess the need to make sure that we're fulfilling that (need).' As the House Appropriations Committee did not take up the bill at its meeting Monday, the funding proposal is unlikely to make it into the state's final budget for fiscal year 2026. Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, the committee chair, said there's only one bill outstanding for the committee to consider — the standing appropriations bill — before the committee is done for the year. While the money for feminine hygiene products could come up in this meeting, the bill would also need to pass on the House floor and then go through the committee process in the Senate, as the other chamber has not considered the measure or passed a companion bill this session. The proposal could be added to another appropriations bill that will make it through the session, but the measure was not included in the budget agreement reached between Senate and House Republicans. Victoria Sinclair, lobbying on behalf of several organizations including those for Iowa school nurses, school counselors, school psychologists, said her clients have proposed an amendment to remove the spending component of this bill and allow school staff to be able to place donated products in school restrooms. The language has not yet been filed as an amendment to the bill. 'I understand that the appropriation has been a big hold up for many years as we looked at this,' Sinclair said. 'And it's our understanding that many schools actually do have a decent amount of donated products, as well as folks willing to donate.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
