The Ides of March

The legislative season is finally winding down, just in time for the Ides of March—a good time keep an eye on your back and what is around the corner. Perhaps the big news will come out the Capitol this afternoon as the House Education Committee votes on SB 364, the TKES/LKES/Testing reorganization bill.  As Senate Education Chairman Lindsey Tippins said, “SB 364 is not a perfect bill but it is the first step in dealing with what is reasonable for public education.”    It will be most interesting to see the legislation that rolls out based on the Education Reform Commission and that should appear not long after the end of the session on March 24. 

Left as a major issue for the 2016 General Assembly is the FY 2017 Budget and how we are going to deal with pay raises for educators.  In previous Flyers I have detailed the problem with how to and how much to raise educators based on the Governor’s recommendations and the detail provided in the budget.  You can expect the budget to be center stage the final week of the session.  Don’t expect much before then. The House and Senate should wrap up their hearings on 2016 bills this week and we will know what makes it to Rules Committee on each side.