SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 6062

As of January 21, 2014

Title: An act relating to providing internet access to public school data and expenditure information.

Brief Description: Requiring internet access to public school data and expenditure information.

Sponsors: Senators Hill, Litzow, Becker, Honeyford, Bailey, Hobbs, Angel, Fain, Braun and Tom.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Early Learning & K-12 Education: 1/20/14.

Staff: Katherine Taylor (786-7434)

Background: A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a legal contract between employers and employees which regulates the terms and conditions of employees in their workplace, their duties, and the duties of the employer. It is usually the result of a process of collective bargaining between an employer and a union representing workers. Specifically, in Washington the collective bargaining laws for school classified staff and certificated staff—but not superintendents or business managers—require that CBAs cover wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment or working conditions.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the primary agency charged with overseeing K-12 public education in Washington State. OSPI works with the state’s 295 school districts.

Summary of Bill: OSPI must implement, maintain, and create rules for an internet-based portal that provides public access to school district CBAs and certain data elements.

For each school district approved and renewed CBA, the school district must provide OSPI with information on the agreement within 20 days of its approval. The CBA information must be provided on a form prescribed by OSPI and must include but is not limited to the following:

• the term of the agreement;

• the total supplemental salary amount and average supplemental salary per employee;

• the total number of in-service days;

• the total number of sick leave days, personal leave days, and holidays;

• the maximum contracted class size by grade and overload concessions;

• additional compensation provided for time, responsibility, incentives, or other purposes;

• annual percentage of change in total salary from prior year;

• district wide average hours of student instructional time per school year by grade;

• provisions addressing actions taken specifically to eliminate the opportunity gap;

• any items, terms, policies, practices, customs, or conditions in the agreement, that were not included in information provided to OSPI in any prior year; and

• whether the agreement contains a no-strike clause.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

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

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: This bill is good for public oversight. Levy funds are being eaten up. The public needs to see how levy funds are being used. This bill is important for fiscal responsibility. We want more details gathered though.

OTHER: There will be hundreds of contracts put into the portal. We think it is good for OSPI to put these contracts in a secure location. This will be a helpful resource. Many school districts already have their contracts on their websites. A central location will be helpful. Twenty days is not long enough to enter contracts after they have been agreed upon. This should be a joint labor management project. Item J should not be in the bill. Some contracts are not changed every year. A few school districts have living contracts. We want a date certain for school districts to prepare. We love the first part but we think there will be huge work load issues for the second part of the bill. We are opposed to the bill as written but not the concept. We think it could be complex for schools to fill out these forms but transparency is good.

Persons Testifying: PRO: Jami Lund, Freedom Foundation.

OTHER: Lucinda Young, WA Education Assn.; Dan Steele, WA Assn. of School Administrators.