Compass Point
A Weekly Collection of Data, Articles and Insights from the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute
A project of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Public Policy
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
State & Local Education News
Virginia bills would put limits on role of police in schools
The Center for Public Integrity
February 9, 2016

Virginia legislators are debating bills this week that would limit the role of school cops and prohibit charging K-12 students with “disorderly conduct” — a reaction to Center stories on unusually aggressive school policing there.

Among the reform proposals: a measure that would release school administrators from state code requirements that they report a range of incidents to police, including potential misdemeanors. Another bill under debate would strengthen the rights of students with disabilities if they’re charged with disorderly behavior and face prosecution in court.

Last April, the Center for Public Integrity published an investigation identifying Virginia as having the top rate of public school referrals of students to law enforcement agencies. Based on an analysis of 2011-2012 data collected by the U.S. Department of Education, Virginia’s rate of referring students to cops or courts was about three times the national rate of six referrals for every 1,000 students. Black students and those with disabilities were referred at even higher rates. 

VEA Speaks Out On Teacher Salaries
NPR (WCVE)
February 9, 2016

The Virginia Education Association is standing up for better pay for teachers in the Commonwealth.

As the state budget looms, Meg Gruber, president of the Virginia Education Association, spoke at a conference today calling for better pay for educators.


Citing reports that list Virginia as 41st in state spending on public schools and a Rutgers study that ranks Virginia as worst in the country in competitiveness for teacher salaries, Gruber called on the General Assembly to produce a budget addressing those shortfalls.

Virginia panel OKs transgender school bathroom bill
Education Week
February 5, 2016

A legislative panel has approved a bill that would require students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex.

The Daily Press reports that the bill would mandate that school systems and state agencies adopt policies designed to keep transgender people from using the bathroom of the gender with which they identify.

The House General Laws subcommittee endorsed the bill Thursday.

Opponents said transgender people should be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice. Supporters called it a common sense measure that would address parents' concerns.

Virginia House OKs bill to let students to switch schools
WCYB.com
February 9, 2016
Virginia's House of Delegates has approved a bill that would allow students in underperforming schools to switch to a different one within the same district.

The bill was approved by the Republican-controlled House with a 57-42 vote on Tuesday.

Under Republican Del. James LeMunyon's bill, the state would identify 12 underperforming public schools and give students there the choice to transfer to another school in the district.

National & Federal Education News

Can Alexander and Murray recapture bipartisan magic to pass higher education legislation?
Washington Post
February 9, 2016


U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) accomplished something few of their colleagues in Congress could during the past year: pass bipartisan legislation.

The pair worked tirelessly to craft a deal that would reform K-12 education, dismantling the controversial No Child Left Behind law that required schools to show academic progress through standardized tests or reckon with a series of penalties. Reaching a compromise was no cake walk, but Alexander, chair of the education committee, and Murray, the committee’s ranking member, pulled it off.

New Department of Education Unit Set to Scrutinize Fraudulent Colleges
The Street
February 9, 2016

The Department of Education (ED) on Monday announced the creation of a Student Aid Enforcement Unit designed to monitor colleges and universities and punish those that defraud their students.

"When Americans invest their time, money and effort to gain new skills, they have a right to expect they'll actually get an education that leads to a better life for them and their families," said John King, Acting Secretary of Education. "When that doesn't happen we all pay the price. So let me be clear: schools looking to cheat students and taxpayers will be held accountable."

Robert Kaye, the Federal Trade Commission's chief litigation counsel in its consumer protection unit, has been named to lead ED's Student Aid Enforcement Unit. Kay reports to James Runcie, COO of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), which is under the oversight of Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell. The Obama administration is asking for an additional $13.6 million in its 2017 budget to enable the Department of Education to work more closely with other federal and state agencies.

How special needs students can benefit from STEM education
Christian Science Monitor
February 9, 2016


For most of his academic career, Cullen excelled in math and computer science but struggled socially – that is, until he enrolled in a new Los Angeles private school that’s part of a nonprofit network.

"It's been a big change," his mother, Terry Whiteside, told CNN Money. "Before he wouldn't talk much about his day. Now he comes home and has conversations with me about what he did at school."

Education IT: Hot Tech Trends To Watch [Commentary]
Information Week
February 9, 2016

Education is all about looking into the future -- at least in preparing young people to create a new and better world. Whether the educational system enlightens grade school kids or university students, the knowledge imparted needs to encompass technology -- both its use and the resources it provides. As a result, educational IT departments have challenges that don't precisely match those in typical enterprise computing departments.

One notable difference between corporate IT and educational IT in the public school systems is that technology budgets for education are constrained by factors outside the typical decision-making processes of "the business." As with government IT, the public school bills are paid by taxpayers who'd prefer the money stayed in their own pockets. Public schools have to "make do" all over, but the rapid pace of technological change underscores how quickly educational institutions can fall behind in process, as well as in geeky tools.
What is public opinion on the Tebow Bill?
As David Blount reports in his recap of Week 4 in the General Assembly session, both chambers have passed bills that would allow homeschoolers to participate in public school activities under the Virginia High School League (often called the "Tebow Bill").  This week for Compass Point, we thought we would reach back in our archives and share insight from a 2014 Compass Point on that topic (see below). Those results showed a strong majority in favor of such legislation.  Also be sure to check out the rest of David Blount's update on K-12 related action during Week 4 at the General Assembly session.

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Whether home-schooled students should be able to participate on local public school sports teams is an ongoing question - legislation to allow such participation is often dubbed a "Tebow Bill" because former standout college athlete Tim Tebow benefitted from similar legislation in Florida. That this piece of legislation is often a hotly debated topic in successive legislative sessions in the commonwealth may be an indication of how much importance athletics are given within the public education system. For a review of some of the views about the Tebow bill, check out this series of opinions compiled by the New York Times, including one by the Instititute's founder, Dr. Bill Bosher.

In our 2013 and 2014 CEPI Education Polls we asked respondents about whether they would support the idea of homeschooled athletes participating on local public school teams (see below).

 



A strong majority (72%) favor allowing homeschooled athletes to participate on public school teams. This percentage was slightly higher than the previous year in 2013.

Support for homeschool participation in public school athletics was highest among younger respondents - 85% of those aged 18-34 favored the idea whereas support dropped off among each successive age group (35-44 had 79% support; 45-64 had 65% support and among those older than 65 there was only 61% support).

Support was also higher among respondents with some college or a college diploma (77% and 74%) compared to those with high school or less (66%). Support was roughly the same across genders and when comparing responses of whites to those of minorities.

School employees (current or former) were less likely to support the provision however - only 61% favored the potential policy, compared to 74% of respondents who had never worked in the schools.

(To read the full results of all the polls, visit our website. In 2014, question 13 is the question reported above - topline results are on page 32; crosstabs are on page 58.)


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We're also pleased to again feature in this week's Compass Point an excerpt from the latest Education Law Newsletter.  This issue is written by Dr. Richard Vacca and focuses on school bus safety and items to include in system-wide transportation policies and training. 

We hope you have a great week!

Sincerely,
CEPI
General Assembly Update - Week 2
Excerpted from CEPI's General Assembly Update, written by Policy Analyst David Blount.  The update will be published weekly during the General Assembly session.

"Budget Issues

House and Senate budget writers await updated state revenue projections that should be available early next week, and then will have just about two weeks to make adjustments to the biennial budget proposed by Governor McAuliffe. As stated previously, there is some concern by lawmakers that revenue estimates may have to be adjusted downward for the remainder of FY16, thus affecting the base budget for FY17 and FY18 as well.

Regarding funding for K-12, House leaders appear poised to rework some of the major education initiatives in the introduced plan. This may include providing flexibility in using the $139 million targeted for hiring more teachers, or using that money to pay for programs currently funded by lottery proceeds and then sending a portion of lottery funding back to the local level, also with some additional flexibility. There also may be some flexibility over the biennium related to proposed teacher salary increases, which were proposed as the state share of a two percent raise, effective early in FY18. On the Senate side, the picture is cloudier, though subcommittee chairmen on the Finance Committee have begun talking about budget priorities in their respective panels.

As a reminder, the money committees will report their respective amendments to the McAuliffe budget on February 21.

Click here for additional information about Governor McAuliffe's proposed changes to the public education budget for the remainder of FY16; and here for the proposed FY17/FY18 education budget.

Education Legislation

Both chambers now have passed legislation that would allow homeschoolers to participate in public school activities under the Virginia High School League. The House previously passed its bill, and the Senate gave its approval this past week to SB 612 on a 22 to 17 vote.

Both also have approved bills to require kindergartners to have at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day. HB 357 easily passed the House on a 72 to 26 vote, following a much closer vote on the Senate bill.

The House approved HB 753 on a 76 to 22 vote this past week. It would make local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year. A second bill, HB 571, also was approved by a similar margin. It contains additional language that requires schools, in divisions that begin the year prior to Labor Day, to have a long (three days off from school) weekend over the Labor Day holiday. The Senate remains the roadblock for school calendar bills. The Education and Health Committee defeated its version of the Labor Day opening bill, SB 340, this past week on a 9 to 7 vote."


(To read the full update, visit our website.)

THE SCHOOL BUS AND STUDENT SAFETY: POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Excerpted from from Dr. Vacca's January 2016 Education Law Newsletter.

Overview

In the recent past several disconcerting incidents involving school buses have been reported in the news. While some reports involve highway accidents, others involve situations where automobile drivers have passed school buses stopped with their caution lights flashing. Others involve children disembarking at the bus stop being hit by passing cars and still others involve violent student behavior while the school bus is traveling down the road. While in some jurisdictions such incidents have prompted state legislatures to relook at existing statutes covering traffic laws and school buses, others have caused local school districts to mount surveillance cameras both in and on school buses.

Bus Safety. Student safety is, always has been, and will continue to be a major topic of concern in communities across this nation. Of all the areas of local public school system operation where safety is a constant focus, school system transportation, especially the school bus, is at the top of the list.

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Analysis to Apply in Search of Fault.
What constitutes adequate care for students is fact based—that is, it depends on the circumstances in a given situation. To put this another way, what constitutes adequate care in one situation might not be so in another. However, one thing is certain. While student safety cannot be guaranteed, and situations differ in fact, there is no room for negligence in any situation involving students and a potential for injury. Thus, negligence becomes the focus of the analysis—i.e., the search for fault.

As a general rule, to establish school district or employee liability where student injury occurred, the facts must show that the school officials, or employees (e.g., administrator, teacher, coach, bus driver) had a duty to keep students from harm, or either created, or had knowledge of, an existing dangerous condition but did not take reasonable steps to remedy the condition. Moreover, the breach of duty owed, or prior knowledge and failure to avoid or correct the existing condition was subsequently the proximate cause of student injury. Russo v. Valley Central School District (N.Y.A.D.2 Dept. 2006)

In more recent cases the element of deliberate indifference often is applied to the analysis. Deliberate indifference has been defined as a situation in which the facts establish that school officials or employees had direct (actual, sufficiently specific) knowledge of the potential for serious harm to students, failed to take reasonable steps to remedy the condition, and this deliberate indifference subsequently was the proximate cause of student injury. As one court succinctly phrased it, deliberate indifference exists where school officials knew or were “willfully blind” to what was going on and failed to take reasonable and necessary steps to remedy the situation. Harry A. v. Duncan (D. Mont. 2005)

Another element of analysis to apply in determining whether negligence exists involves foreseeability. While it would be unrealistic to believe that school officials and employees can be held responsible for every mishap that occurs on school property during the school day, foreseeability dictates that school officials or employees (administrator, teacher, coach, bus driver—working directly with and responsible for students) are expected to take reasonable care to avoid acts of commission, or omission, and/or harmful conditions that he or she can reasonably foresee would likely cause injury to students. (Vacca and Bosher, 2012)

Recently, while searching for new case law to add to the revised ninth edition of our text, I came across a comprehensive and instructive decision from the New York Court of Appeals—one that reads like a restatement of tort law regarding public school buses.

Williams v. Weatherstone (N.Y. 2014)
Facts. At the time of her injury (March 13, 2008) . . . .

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Policy Implications

While the applicability of the New York Court of Appeals decision is limited to New York State, and emphasizing that incidents involving public school system buses are fact based and for analysis must be placed within the context of state law (both traffic law and public school law), the Court’s rationale is nonetheless instructive. Williams v. Weatherstone (2014) reads like a restatement of the law on tort liability as applied to public school busing. What follows are generalized suggestions for local school board policy gleaned from that decision:
School board policies must make it clear that:
  • The school system, with cooperation and involvement of appropriate local municipal governmental agencies, plans for and locates school bus stops in safe locations nearest to the homes where students reside; and, regularly monitors the conditions of designated school bus stops in an effort to maintain student safety.
  • Where unsafe and or dangerous conditions might develop at school bus stops the Board seeks the cooperation and involvement of parents and appropriate local governmental agencies to remedy the existing conditions.
  • The Board requires that school bus drivers follow all traffic laws and implement all school board policies and procedures applicable to school bus operation and student safety; that drivers take steps to maintain student safety while the bus is in transit; and that drivers properly instruct students on safety precautions to take while boarding and disembarking from the school bus.
  • The school system seeks the cooperation and involvement of parents in maintaining student safety: (1) at school bus stops; (2) while children are boarding and disembarking at school bus stops; and (3) as children transition from the school bus stop to home.

To read the full brief, visit our website.