05/01/2005 01:00 PM Senate FINANCE

                                                                                                                                
     SENATE BILL NO. 156                                                                                                        
     "An Act relating to notification to teachers of layoff or                                                                  
     nonretention."                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
AT EASE: 1:41:39 PM / 1:41:50 PM                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
This  was the first  hearing  for this  bill in  the Senate  Finance                                                            
Committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
PHELAN STRAUBE,  Staff to Senator  Ben Stevens, the bill's  sponsor,                                                            
informed  the  Committee  that  this  bill  would  address  what  is                                                            
referred to "as  the pink slip problem by aligning  tenured teachers                                                            
with  non-tenured  teachers  within  the  law".  Currently,  tenured                                                            
teachers  must be notified  by March  16th of  each year that  "they                                                            
would not be retained  for the following school year".  "Non-tenured                                                            
teachers must be notified  by the last day of the school term". This                                                            
legislation  would align  the two  schedules by  specifying that  in                                                            
both cases,  the termination  notification  must be received  by the                                                            
end of the school term.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:42:32 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Green inquired  as to how  this issue  was brought  to the                                                            
attention of the Legislature.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Straube  replied that  the primary issue  is that neither  local                                                            
city/school  assemblies'  budgets  nor the  State's  budget for  the                                                            
following fiscal year are  completed by March 16th of each year. The                                                            
requirement  that notification must  be provided by that  date leads                                                            
to a sense  of instability on the  part of teachers and speculation                                                             
on the part of the school  districts in regards to the funding level                                                            
they would receive for the following school year.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair   Green  ascertained   therefore   that   the  March   16th                                                            
notification date has proven to be more harmful than beneficial.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Straube  agreed. "It  creates instability  for teachers  and for                                                            
school districts; it unnecessarily scares parents and teachers."                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Green asked whether  this issue has ever been "challenged."                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Straube had not discovered  any challenge during his research on                                                            
the issue. The  practice was created in the 1960s  "and has not been                                                            
addressed since".                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Green  stated that while this is "a long-standing  policy",                                                            
it is  inconsistent  with budget  cycles  and is  not beneficial  to                                                            
those concerned.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Wilken  moved  to  report the  bill  from  Committee  with                                                            
individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
There being  no objection,  the SB 156 was  REPORTED from  Committee                                                            
with previous  zero fiscal  note #1, dated  April 18, 2005  from the                                                            
Department of Education and Early Development.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:45:02 PM