EDUCATOR EVALUATION SYSTEM BILL ADVANCES
Senate Bill 751 was approved by the House Education Committee with support of a 21-4 bipartisan vote. With no committee amendments, under the legislation the following changes to the current law would occur:
- Raise the current observation portion from 50% to 70%
- Teacher specific data (e.g. standardized test scores) would now be 20%
- Building level data (e.g. graduation rates and attendance) would now be 10%
The bill also makes adjustments to the building level data by considering the area’s poverty level for each individual school. If passed by the full House and signed into law, the new rating system will go into effect by June 30, 2020.
LEGISLATION ESTABLISHES A $125 MILLION GRANT TO MAKE SCHOOLS CLEANER
House Bill 1636 was recently introduced to establish the Public School Building Emergency Repair and Renovation Grant Program. Under the bill, money would come from the state’s General Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund, to pay for lead and asbestos remediation projects in Pennsylvania’s schools. Companion legislation has also been introduced in the State Senate. As the bill is currently written, $85 million of the $125 million would go to Philadelphia Public Schools, since 200 of those schools were built before 1950. Thirty million is earmarked for districts with high poverty rates and $10 million for any other district that needs remediation.
US LAW INCREASES AGE LIMIT TO 21 FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS
President Trump recently signed into law a spending bill that included the increase in age of the sale of tobacco products, including electronic and vaping products, from 18 to 21 years of age. Pennsylvania approved similar legislation late last month which included a provision that any student found on school property or school bus/vehicle with any type of tobacco product will be charged with a summary offence.
CYBERSECURITY BILL INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS TO ASSIST PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Legislation was recently introduced, known as the K-12 Cybersecurity Act, in the US Senate. The bill directs Homeland Security to produce a study on cyber security threats to the nation’s public schools, examine districts’ technology inventories, and possible threats to student and teacher data. Studies have found that education faces the highest ransomware attack rate of any industry and is becoming a bigger target since schools are holding more student information than ever before. Creators of the legislation hope that growing attention to the severity of the issue will be addressed in future initiatives to provide extra support to public schools in the area of cyber security.
