Kevin Bryant

Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina

Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina

 

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education funding: flexible resolutions

by

flexible_woman

    

Many educators have asked us to pass the proposed resolutions allowing more flexible funding for the local school districts. Here’s my formula:

(choice+competition)x(deregulation+flexibility)
per pupil funding
=
happy(teachers+parents+taxpayers)
smart kids
Here are summaries of two resolutions before the General Assembly. H 3352 in the House and S. 379 in the Senate. I’m certainly agreeable to the spirit of both of these resolutions. But, as you know, the devil’s in the details. We’ll see what comes to the floor. H. 3352 has passed the House and sits in Senate Finance along with S. 379. As you can see the “deliberative body” needs to get on the ball as pass one of these resolutions to get out school districts some relief.

House Bill 3352 SECTION 1. For the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 fiscal years, school districts and special schools of this State may transfer among appropriated state revenues, excluding lottery funds, as needed to ensure the delivery of academic and arts instruction to students.  

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding another provision of law and for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 fiscal years, school districts must be granted: 

1. suspension from professional staffing ratios and subfund level regulations and guidelines requiring expenditure regulations and guidelines at the subfund level; 

2. permission to transfer funds among funding categories, including capital funds from the Children’s Education Endowment Fund and excluding funds required for debt service or bonded indebtedness; 

3. permission to delay from April fifteenth to May fifteenth the date that contracts are issued to teachers. from April 15 to May 15 A teacher who is reemployed by written notification pursuant to Section 59-25-410 shall notify the board of trustees of the district in writing of his acceptance of the contract within ten days of such notification or April twenty-fifth, whichever occurs later.  Failure on the part of the teacher to notify the board of acceptance within the specified time limit is conclusive evidence of the teacher’s rejection of the contract; 

4. permission to negotiate salaries below the minimum salary requirements for retired teachers if specified in the contract or otherwise authorized by law or teachers participating in the TERI program below the minimum salary requirements. 

If specified in the contract or if the district is otherwise authorized by law to furlough teachers, a district may furlough teachers for up to five noninstructional days provided that school and district administrators are furloughed for twice the an equivalent number of days.

All other program regulations, guidelines, reporting, and audit requirements remain in effect unless addressed in this joint resolution. 

To further ensure resources are maximized, districts are encouraged to limit the number of low enrollment courses, expand virtual instruction, and, to the extent possible, develop schedules to minimize transportation costs of extracurricular and academic competitions.  Prior to implementing the flexibility provisions provided in this joint resolution, school districts must provide to public charter schools the per pupil allocation due to the charter schools for each categorical program.   

The school district board of trustees must certify that specific actions were taken in response to the measures provided in Sections 1 and 2 of this joint resolution.

The certification and report must be in writing and delivered, on a quarterly basis, to the State Superintendent of Education, and a copy must be forwarded to the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee. 

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding another provision of law and for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 fiscal years, implementation of formative assessments for grades one, two, and nine, the foreign language program assessment, the physical education assessment, and new textbook adoptions must be suspended.  School districts and the State Department of Education must be granted permission to purchase the most economical type of bus fuel. 

SECTION 4. In order for a school district to take advantage of the flexibility provisions provided in this joint resolution and for the 2009 to 2010 Fiscal Year only, At least sixty-five percent of the education operational budget of the school district as determined by the State Department of Education must be used for classroom instruction including, but not limited to, instruction, instructional support such as guidance and media, transportation, and food services.   No portion of the sixty-five percent may include monies received as a portion of the federal stimulus package.  No portion of the sixty-five percent may be used for bureaucratic purposes.  The school district shall report to the State Department of Education by August first of each year the actual percentage of its education operational budget that the school district used for classroom instruction for the previous school year. 

SECTION 5. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Senate Bill 379 SECTION 1. For the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 fiscal years, school districts and special schools of this State may transfer among appropriated state revenues, excluding lottery funds, as needed to ensure the delivery of academic and arts instruction to students.  

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding another provision of law and for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 fiscal years, school districts must be granted: 

1. suspension from professional staffing ratios and regulations and guidelines requiring expenditures at the subfund level;   

2. permission to transfer funds among funding categories, including capital funds from the Children’s Education Endowment Fund and excluding funds required for debt service or bonded indebtedness; 

3. permission to delay from April fifteenth to May fifteenth the date that contracts are issued to teachers;                   

4. permission to negotiate salaries below the minimum salary requirements for retired teachers if specified in the contract or otherwise authorized by law.      

If specified in the contract or if the district is otherwise authorized by law to furlough teachers, a district may furlough teachers for up to five noninstructional days provided that school and district administrators are furloughed for an equivalent number of days.

All other program regulations, guidelines, reporting, and audit requirements remain in effect unless addressed in this joint resolution. 

To further ensure resources are maximized, districts are encouraged to limit the number of low enrollment courses, expand virtual instruction, and, to the extent possible, develop schedules to minimize transportation costs of extracurricular and academic competitions.             

The school district board of trustees must certify that specific actions were taken in response to the measures provided in Sections 1 and 2 of this joint resolution. 

The certification and report must be in writing and delivered, on a quarterly basis, to the State Superintendent of Education, and a copy must be forwarded to the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee. 

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding another provision of law and for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 fiscal years, implementation of formative assessments for grades one, two, and nine, the foreign language program assessment, the physical education assessment, and new textbook adoptions must be suspended.  School districts must be granted permission to purchase the most economical type of bus fuel.                                           

SECTION  4. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

 

 

 

 

Gressette office vandalized

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0218091800
A surveillance camera captured a suspect on the 6th floor in the Gressette Building last week. The same boy that keeps trouncing his dad on the playstation felt it necessary to rub it in when his old man turned 42.

workers’ legality under scrutiny at Anderson construction site

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You may have learned about a job site being protested by angry brick masons, electricians, and other contractors. They have a jusified accusation that all of the workers on the City’s fire station construction on Simpson Road are not legal. ICE inspectors have verified the workers legality, yet one must remember that ICE is only required to verify the infamous i9 form. We all know the i9 isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.  
                        
Constituents are asking what can the state do. Well, the law we passed last year requires all new hires to be e-verified, yet the law doesn’t affect all employers until January of 2010. If this situation were to occur after the law’s implementation, LLR would have the authority to inspect the job site. Some local governments, like the City of Clemson, have enacted requirements for e-verify on public projects, but to my knowledge, Anderson City nor County has not. I’m told the County Council may consider doing this soon.
                           
Another problem we now face is the expiration of the e-verify. E-verify is a volunteer system used to identify a workers status maintained by the Federal Government. If the Feds don’t renew e-verify, we’ll be forced to figure out an employment certification process in South Carolina. Here’s some info on SC’s plans to implement the legislation.

Anderson County Republican Party Precinct Reorganization

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March 16th 7:00 p.m. at the Anderson Civic Center
Doors will open at 6:15 with precinct reorganization beginning promptly at 7 p.m. Remember you will need to bring your voter registration card. There is no charge to you for precinct reorganization but there will be a $5 charge if you plan to be a delegate to the county convention in order to help cover expenses. Our county convention will be held at T L Hanna High School on Highway 81N on Monday, April 20th.
                   
Also, you will need to have any resolutions prepared in written form to be presented to your precinct for consideration on March 16th. From the reorganization they will go to a resolutions committee to be presented at the county convention for a vote by the delegates. If you have questions on this procedure you may call Lee Rogers, ACRP Chairman at 864-353-3113.
                                
If you were a precinct President in 2007 please remember you need to be present to lead your precinct on March 16th. All information you will need for the evening will be handed to you at the door when you arrive. For questions regarding the reorganization you may call Susan Aiken at 934-3588.

a 9 year losing streak ends

by

ethan

 

Twerp & punk aren’t normally names a loving father would have for his youngest child, but I’ve been saying things like this about Ethan, my almost 9 year old son. You see, we have this rivalry in the Bryant home. It’s NCAA Football 09 on the ps 2. I can’t even get a first down with Tyler (he’s 17), but you’d think I could compete with Ethan. Until last night, Ethan would routinely school me in sacks, ground game, interceptions, and 90 yard touch down plays. After each game he would turn into this obnoxious “in your face” victor that really hurt my self esteem. Well, Sunday night, I finally won.
                      
4th quarter, less than a minute, I’m leading 28-21 while Ethan’s marching down the field. He’s got the ball in the red zone, fixing to score 6 then a routine 2 point conversion. Like many times past, he would beat Dad again. Not tonight. Old Dad picked off a strike in the end-zone, to finally break and 8 year losing streak. BTW, I was FSU and Ethan was West Virginia. Go Noles!