NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used in any other situation.



Only the most recent FIR version, excluding attachments, is available on the Intranet. Previously issued FIRs and attachments may be obtained from the LFC office in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.





F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Howes DATE TYPED: 02/16/00 HB
SHORT TITLE: Instructional Staff T& E Index SB 331/aSEC/aSFl#1
ANALYST: Fernandez


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY00 FY01 FY00 FY01
Indeterminate Recurring G/F



(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)



Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to Duplicates HB365



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



State Department of Public Education (SDE)



SUMMARY



     Synopsis of Sfl#1 Amendment



The Senate Floor amendment #1, adds language to specify that a maximum of 8 years experience as an instructional assistant or instructional aid may be used for calculation of the training and experience index.



Synopsis of SEC Amendment



The Senate Education Committee amendment adds language to clarify that instructional aides and assistants may count one year for every four years of experience for calculation of the training and experience index. The amendment also addresses items under Technical Issues in the FIR.

Synopsis of Bill



House Bill 365 amends the Public School Code to include instructional assistants in the definition of instructional staff for purposes of calculating the training and experience index in the public school funding formula. This bill will allow four years of training and experience as an instructional assistant or instructional aide to be equivalent to one year of teaching on the training and experience index. The bill also changes the reporting requirement for staff on the training and experience index from the October payroll to February payroll.



Significant Issues



SDE indicates that allowing four years of training and experience as an instructional assistant or instructional aide to be equivalent to one year of teaching on the training and experience index would provide school districts with financial assistance to support additional training for instructional assistants, especially in cases when that education leads to a license in shortage areas such as bilingual education.



Changing the reporting date from October to February districts would allow districts to include those teachers hired after October in a school year and before February, to be included in the districts' respective training and experience matrices for reporting purposes. This could result in a higher index for school districts. According to SDE, a February reporting date would make it difficult for the department to accurately project the budget need for public school support which is statutorily required to be submitted on or before November 30 each year.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS



Currently, training and experience units provide districts with additional funds so they may hire and retain better educated and more experienced instructional personnel. Training and experience is calculated based upon five academic classifications and five levels of teaching experience with values from 1.00 to 1.50. The index is then multiplied by the total program units to yield adjusted program units. The higher the index, the greater the number of total program units. The statutory changes proposed in this bill will significantly alter the training and experience index in the public school funding formula; however, the financial impact resulting from passage of this bill cannot be determined at this time.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS



Passage of this bill would have limited administrative impact on school districts and no impact on SDE.



DUPLICATION



Duplicates SB331.

TECHNICAL ISSUES



SDE recommends the following:



Page 4, line 18, insert between the word "experience" and the ".": "for certified teachers who have the required experience as instructional assistants or instructional aides".



CTF/sb/njw