Title: An act relating to reclassifying the state board of education as a class four group.

Brief Description: Reclassifying the state board of education as a class four group.

Sponsors: Senators McAuliffe, Schmidt and Kohl-Welles; by request of State Board of Education.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education: 2/23/05, 2/25/05 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EARLY LEARNING, K-12 & HIGHER EDUCATION

Majority Report: Do pass.Signed by Senators McAuliffe, Chair; Pridemore, Vice Chair; Weinstein, Vice Chair; Schmidt, Ranking Minority Member; Berkey, Delvin, Eide, Kohl-Welles, Mulliken, Rasmussen, Rockefeller, Schoesler and Shin.

Staff: Ingrid Mungia (786-7423)

Background: Under current Washington law, the members of the state board of education are classified as a class three group. Each member of the board is eligible to receive compensation in an amount not to exceed fifty dollars for each day during which the member attends an official meeting of the board or performs statutorily prescribed duties approved by the chairperson of the board.

Summary of Bill: Reclassifies the state board of education as a class four group. A class four group is eligible to receive compensation in an amount not to exceed one hundred dollars for each day during which the member attends an official meeting of the board or performs statutorily prescribed duties approved by the chairperson of the board.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: New responsibilities have been put on the State Board of Education with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Washington graduation requirements. There is a lot more work for the Board than there has been in the past. The timing is right for this bill. The Board currently meets the requirements for a class four board.

Testimony Against: None.

Who Testified: PRO: Senator McAuliffe, prime sponsor; Larry Davis, State Board of Education.