HOUSE BILL REPORT

2SSB 6062

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Second Substitute Bill

(As Amended by Committee)

Requires each school district, charter school, and state-tribal compact school to publish on its website a copy of its employee collective bargaining agreements by September 1, 2014, and update them within 30 days of any changes.
Requires each school district with an Associated Student Body (ASB) program fund to publish specified information about the fund on its website or on the website for the applicable school, for each ASB and each ASB account.

Majority Report: Do pass as amended. Signed by 15 members: Representatives Santos, Chair; Dahlquist, Ranking Minority Member; Magendanz, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Bergquist, Haigh, Hargrove, Hawkins, Hayes, Klippert, Lytton, Muri, Orwall, Parker, Seaquist and Warnick.

Background:

Classified employees of school districts and charter schools are authorized to engage in collective bargaining with their employing district or school under the same laws that apply to other non-state public employees and employers. There is a separate law that authorizes certificated school employees, except senior administrators, also to engage in collective bargaining. The scope of bargaining includes wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment or working conditions. Some school districts publish their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) on their websites; others do not.

School districts may collect fees from students to participate in optional extracurricular activities, which must be deposited in an Associated Student Body (ASB) program fund maintained by the district. An ASB is any formal organization of students recognized and approved by a school board. The ASB program funds are budgeted by the students of the ASB with approval by the school board. The transaction of each ASB is accounted for separately within the overall ASB program fund. Student groups may also conduct fund-raising activities to supplement the ASB program fund.

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Summary of Amended Bill:

Each school district, charter school, and state-tribal compact school must publish a copy of its public school employee CBAs on its website by September 1, 2014, and thereafter must update the website within 30 days of approval, renewal, or amendment of such an agreement.

Each school district with an ASB program fund must publish on its website the beginning and ending fund balances and summary expenditures and revenues from the fund over the course of the school year. This information is required for each ASB and each account within the ASB fund. If the district website contains school websites, the information is required to be published on the website of the applicable school. School districts must publish the information for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years by August 31, 2014, and update this data annually by August 31st of each year. Only information from the previous five years is required to be maintained on the website.

Amended Bill Compared to Second Substitute Bill:

All provisions of the second substitute bill are replaced. The second substitute bill directed the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create an internet-based portal to provide public access to public school employee CBAs and certain specified data elements compiled from those CBAs and submitted by each public school. The information included elements such as the average and total supplemental salary per employee; the number of in-service days, sick leave days, personal leave days, and holidays; the maximum contracted class size by grade and overload concessions; average hours of student instructional time per school year by grade; and whether the agreement contains a no-strike clause.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) None.

(With concerns) There could be more than 500 separate contracts to publish on a state internet portal. Once a school board ratifies a CBA, it is a public document. Many school districts put their CBAs on a district website and local employee associations also publish them on the internet. The ratification of a CBA by a school board occurs in a public meeting. All of this is a public process. It makes sense in some respects to have a state portal for all agreements, as long as they were safely maintained and unalterable. Local associations like to learn about innovations occurring in other districts. However, there are concerns with the requirement to compile standardized information. This is not a simple process, and it is something that the union and the district would have to do together. There may not be a common understanding of the question or the end product. This is not simply a table of information. Some of the items may not be addressed in the CBA. This would be a costly project, with ongoing costs.

(Opposed) None.