Volume XII • No. 6 • December 2014

A Publication of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association

2014Officers and BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Region 1 Mike Ray, Guymon Roger Edenborough, Goodwell

Region 2 Terry Graham, Burlington Wesley Crain, Fargo

Region 3 Willa Jo Fowler, Enid Cheryl Lane, Frontier

Region 4 Mike Mullins, Sand Springs Ruth Ann Fate, Tulsa Cheryl Kelly, Broken Arrow

Region 5 Don Tice, Oologah-Talala Rodney Schilt, Adair

Region 6 Dr. Dan Snell, Norman Frances Percival, Millwood Ron Millican, Oklahoma City

Region 7 John D. Tuttle, Kellyville Keith Sandlin, Shawnee

Region 8 Brenda Barney, Wagoner Jere A. Gibson , Fort Gibson

Region 9 Dr. Floyd Simon, Jr., Clinton James Smith, Leedey

Region 10 Beth Schieber, Okarche Jackie McComas, Anadarko

Region 11 Donna Ronio, Lawton Karol Haney, Cache

Region 12 Ed Tillery, Whitebead Pat LaMascus, Wynnewood

Region 13 Roy Justice, Mannsville Tony Hawkins, Madill

Region 14 Dee Lockhart, Haworth Kevin Blake, Battiest

Region 15 Dr. Joe Williams, Meridian Tech. Center Dustin Tackett, Caddo-Kiowa Tech. Center

Dr. Floyd Simon, Jr. - President Clinton

Mike Mullins - President-Elect Sand Springs

Roger Edenborough - First Vice President Goodwell

Don Tice - Second Vice President Oologah-Talala

Willa Jo Fowler - Immediate Past President Enid

John D. Tuttle - NSBA Board of Directors Kellyville

The Oklahoma State School Boards Association offers services that support, safeguard and

advocate for Boards of Education in order to improve public education.

OKLAHOMA SCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL

Shawn Hime Executive Director and Editor

Christy Watson Director of Communications and Marketing and Editor

Kelly Ross Marketing Coordinator and Design Editor

Official publication of Oklahoma State School Boards Association, Inc.

2801 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Ste. 125 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105

(405) 528-3571 • (888)528-3571 toll-free (405) 528-5695 fax

www.ossba.org ISSN 0748-8092

The Oklahoma State School Boards Association, publisher of The Oklahoma School Board Journal, reserves the right to accept or reject any material, editorial or advertisement submitted to the Journal for publication. Advertisements appearing in the Journal do not necessarily reflect an endorsement by the OSSBA of the advertised materials or services.

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Volume XII • No. 6 • December 2014

Shawn Hime: Are you battle weary? .................................. 3

Presidential Ponderings ....................................................... 5

A New Day: Q & A with Joy Hofmeister ........................... 7

A Few Moments About Minutes ........................................ 8

For the People: A Vision for Oklahoma Public Education ...................... 10

Dreaming the Dreams of our Children: Finding our own Flycatcher .............................................. 14

It's Policy: Affordable Care Act ......................................... 15

Find Money for Teacher Pay ............................................. 16

OSSBA Partners .................................................................. 19

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Shawn Hime, OSSBA Executive Director

Our children are learning more during the course of their school years than children in any previous generation. Much of what many of us were required to memorize in school is now available with a just few seconds of Internet searching. High school graduation rates in the United States are higher than they’ve ever been. Public schools are still producing scientists, lawyers, teachers and public servants who are changing the world as we know it. That is not failure.

At the same time, the business of teaching and learning has changed. Public education and educators must change with it. We’ve been guilty — we often don’t make changes quickly enough and aren’t always receptive to new ideas. In that resistance or simply inaction, educators left a void. Others were only too happy to step in and lead critical conversations about reforming education. Educators were on the outside looking in. And when we didn’t like what we saw, we said “no.” We said “no” a lot. Predictably, that became the story line.

It’s been two years since I picked up the phone to hear my friend and fellow educator Steven Crawford talking about efforts in other states to focus less on reforming education and give educators the lead voice in a conversation about transforming education. Crawford, the executive director of the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration; Joe Siano, superintendent of Norman Public Schools; and Jeff Mills, the then-executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, wanted to start such an effort in Oklahoma.

The time was right. I was frustrated with the contentious battle over reforms that looked much better on paper than they did in practice. Those of us who were working closest with students knew that despite some noble intentions, the reforms were implemented poorly, were disconnected from everyday reality, and would

not improve public education for all children.

By then, we were saying no in an echo chamber. Our voice was largely muted.

But the idea of a new vision for public education in Oklahoma based on research and created by Oklahoma school leaders provided hope. It took two years for this group of dozens of dedicated and committed leaders to complete its work. The final report is 140-plus pages of research, recommendations and best practices we found in Oklahoma and throughout the country. For the People: A Vision for Oklahoma Public Education is a solid starting point for conversations in our communities and at the state level about the present and future.

At OSSBA, we dedicated our fall region meetings to share the findings with school board members and superintendents and ask them to begin thinking about how to put the initiative to work in their districts. Several legislators attended the meetings and had their first introduction to For the People.

In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be making a more intentional effort to share the recommendations with other stakeholders, including additional lawmakers, business leaders, policymakers and parent groups. As an association, we're looking for ways to support school leaders as they begin to apply transformational principles at the local level. OSSBA and CCOSA also are asking school boards and superintendents to say “yes” to this new vision for public education and formally endorse For the People via a board resolution.

The OSSBA’s voice at the Capitol will reflect For the People’s vision and recommendations. To truly create a new day for public education, local board members and superintendents must be the voices of vision in their communities. Let us know how we can help. n

I know that’s the case for a lot of local school leaders in Oklahoma. In fact, it’s a recurring theme throughout the country. School board members and educators feel under attack. For years now, our game plan has focused on defense. It hasn’t been terribly effective.

The prevailing narrative that public education is a failure isn’t true. Neither is it true that public education has served every child well.

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Gary EnglandOklahoma Hall of Fame member and multi-Emmy winning Oklahoma meteorologist. England has been awarded the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award for best in the nation breaking weather coverage.

Albert AshwoodDirector of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. During his tenure, Ashwood has overseen the distribution and administration of more than $1 billion in federal and state aid following dozens of presidentially declared disasters.

Kim Edd CarterDirector of the Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security. A law enforcement officer with more than 36 years experience, Carter now serves to maintain a state strategy to prevent terrorist attacks and reduce Oklahoma’s vulnerability to terrorism.

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NSBA Advocacy InstituteEvery year, the National School Boards Association offers a great opportunity to help local school board members learn more about the critical role of advocacy.

The 2015 Advocacy Institute is Feb. 1-3 at the Marriott Marquis in Washington D.C. Featured speakers include political consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin and journalist Gwen Ifill. The agenda also includes interactive sessions on legal, legislative and public advocacy issues. Attendance is open to all school board members.

Last year, four school board members along with two members of OSSBA’s staff attended the institute. OSSBA President Dr. Floyd Simon Jr. hopes even more board members will attend this year’s event. Registration is $695 per person and can be completed online at http://www.nsba.org/events/advocacy-institute/register-now. The registration deadline is Jan. 12.

For more information about the Advocacy Institute, contact Rooney Virgin, OSSBA’s Director of Legislative Services, at 405.528.3571 or rooneyv@ossba.org.

Presidential Ponderings

Dr. Floyd Simon, Jr. was elected as President of OSSBA at the Delegate Assembly, Aug. 23, 2014. He is a board member from Clinton Public Schools and serves as the District 9 Director for OSSBA.

We advocate for our students at every meeting of our school board – or at least we should. But at this moment in public education, advocacy in the boardroom isn’t enough.

Oklahoma has a new state schools superintendent, and many of us have new people representing us at the state Legislature. They need to hear from us – what’s working well, what’s not and what support our local schools need.

The Oklahoma State School Boards Association serves as the chief collective voice for school board members at the state Capitol and at the federal level. The strength of that collective voice is in communicating to policymakers what board members are seeing and hearing in their districts. However, the association’s voice is most powerful when it is combined with local board members who speak to their representatives about issues of concern.

People tend to think of advocacy only in terms of proposing a solution to a problem. The truth is the groundwork for advocacy begins long before with the establishment of a relationship. The first time a lawmaker hears your voice or receives your email should not be based on a complaint.

Give your representative a call or send an email to let them know who you are, that you serve on your local school board and would love to serve as a resource for them on education issues. Invite them to a school board meeting,

a school event or consider working with other area school boards to host a legislative breakfast for legislators in your area.

When the time comes to contact them regarding an issue of concern, there are few important points to remember:

• Keep it brief.• Hit your three most important

points.• Personalize your letter. Or if

you are contacting them via phone, identify yourself as a school board member in their area and give your address.

• Be clear about what you want.• Appreciate their time, and say

thank you.

Advocacy – especially when participating for the first time – can be intimidating. Just remember that lawmakers aren’t so different from the rest of us. They haven’t always been lawmakers, and many are parents or grandparents. Our lawmakers need to hear from us just like we need to hear from our own constituents. n

The much-anticipated elections are over, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief that the campaign signs and commercials are gone. But here’s a little secret for school board members: the work of advocating for our students has only begun.

They need to hear from us – what’s working well, what’s not and what support our local schools need.

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Within 48 hours of becoming state schools superintendent-elect, Joy Hofmeister had already named a transition team to help her make the switch from candidate to CEO of the state’s education agency.

The race for office is over. What awaits her now likely will test all of the skills and abilities she touted as assets during the campaign — political finesse, aggressive advocacy, deft management.

Oklahoma is in the beginning stages of crafting new math and English language arts standards — a giant task under the best of circumstances. Schools still aren’t certain what revocation of the No Child Left Behind waiver and subsequent certification of the PASS standards as college- and career-ready mean for their daily operations or budgets. Let’s face it. The list of items causing anxiety for local school officials is long:

• Short turn-around time to have new spring tests in place.

• A teacher shortage that has increased class sizes and forced cancellation of some courses.

• Continued implementation of a new teacher evaluation system.

• A combative environment that has bred mistrust between educators and policymakers.

Hofmeister talked about those issues with OSSBA's Christy Watson. Here’s an edited transcript of the conversation.

Christy Watson, OSSBA Director of Communications and Marketing

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In the latter stages of your campaign, you talked about an eight-year plan for education. How does that fit with the sense of urgency for change in the education community and the general public?

Developing an eight-year plan does not mean we can afford to wait eight years to make changes and improvements. Education has immediate needs and

lingering challenges. We need a plan that meets both.

The transportation department has had a lot of success with an eight-year plan that gave legislators a road map to get behind. What we’ve had in education in Oklahoma is piecemeal legislation that oftentimes has only compounded our challenges. I want a master plan to bring about the kind of success our kids deserve.

Local control is a critical issue for districts and school board members. How will you encourage local decision-making?

I believe those closest to a problem have the best hope for solving it. In schools, that means those closest to students. We have to provide good information so people can make good decisions. That’s the part that has been lacking when it comes to A-F. We are not providing communities with accurate, valid or reliable information. We need to take steps to provide what local communities and school boards need to best serve their students.

You mentioned A-F, which has been a major topic of discussion and criticism for the last few years. What changes would you like to see?

Our accountability metric can’t be a single-indicator letter grade. That’s a bumper-sticker approach. It doesn’t work. But I absolutely believe we must have a framework so we can make decisions when it comes to measuring how schools are doing and how we can provide greater support to ensure success.

I want to resist rushing on making changes. I will partner with University

of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University researchers and ask them what kind of time and information are needed to ensure we have a reliable accountability metric. I know members of the Legislature are eager to get it right, and some want to do it right now. My caution is let’s not rush. Let’s get it right.

With so much progress needed, what comes first?

High on my priority list is the teacher shortage. There are multiple solutions to address this, and we need to look at all of them. In any position, there’s job compensation and there’s also job satisfaction. Right now, both are low in Oklahoma. We know the solution has to include compensation, but it also has to include overregulation that limits time for teachers to teach. Teachers have to have time to deliver rich instruction.

How will you approach hot-button issues?

I want to act on evidence, not perception and anecdote. This means working with our research partners in education policy who can provide neutral insight. And then we’ll make steps forward with confidence, knowing we’re using limited resources in the most effective way for student

achievement. I will resist bumper-sticker solutions. We have complex issues and challenges, and a simple solution is never the best answer. We can’t oversimplify the complexity of the work of schools.

There’s an often-repeated narrative that public schools are failing our kids. Do you believe that’s true?

I don’t. We have success in all of our districts. What we need is a metric that gives a clear understanding for schools and school boards of their strengths and challenges. We need to make sure our limited resources can more efficiently and effectively support higher student achievement.

I want to make sure the state Education Department sets high expectations for schools and then provides support to improve achievement. We need to get out of the way of the experts in the field so they can serve our students.

What do you need from school board members?

I recognize the service that local board members give to their communities and their students. They shoulder great responsibility. I commit to stand with them and find solutions together as we advocate for what our students need. I admire their service to the districts and want to reinforce my appreciation for that great commitment to students. I need their engagement. I look forward to recommendations and proposed solutions from local school board members from all across Oklahoma.

It’s been four years of dysfunction, and we are going to start turning that around. It’s not going to be an immediate, automatic improvement. I’m convinced we’ve got the team to work together and pull in the right direction. Things will improve because we are going to be a community and work as a team. Will there be bumps in the road? You bet. We will weather all of that together and try our best to minimize any negative effect on students. n

What we need is a metric that gives a clear understanding for schools and school boards of their strengths and challenges.

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The minutes of a school board meeting are the official record of what transpired at the school board meeting. Minutes are kept for future reference and are the legal record of the meeting. In looking at a district’s policies and procedures, it is a good idea to review Oklahoma law regarding the minutes of a meeting of a public body.

Who Should Take the Minutes?The minute clerk or deputy minute clerk must take the minutes. Oklahoma law specifically states that “no superintendent, principal, treasurer or assistant treasurer, instructor, or teacher employed by such board shall be elected or serve as … minute clerk except that a treasurer or assistant treasurer may serve as a minute clerk.” 70 O.S. § 5-119. There are no exceptions to this rule. As a result, the minute clerk or deputy minute clerk must be present for all board meetings.

In addition, the minute clerk is to be bonded at a minimum of $1,000. Typically, the minute clerk is a support employee who works in the central office of the school district. The local board of education in each school district or career technology center decides who will serve as minute clerk.

What Should be Included in the Minutes?Minutes must reflect all “matters considered” and “actions taken” by the public body. The minutes

of the meeting are to be a summarization of the meeting itself. When taken as a whole, someone should be able to determine from reading the minutes all the items that were discussed and the actions taken by the board of education.

At the top of the minutes, a “meeting identification paragraph” should be added which includes the following:

The name of the school district.The place, date, and time of the meeting.

The type of meeting being held.A statement reflecting compliance with “Agenda-

posting” requirements.

To prepare the minutes, it is recommended the minutes clerk use a copy of the agenda for the meeting and add lines underneath each item as follows:

Motion: ______________________________Motion made by: ______________________Second made by: _______________________Roll call vote: Smith o Jones o Stephens o Miller o Andrews o

This “cheat sheet” could be taken to the meeting for the minute clerk’s use to keep an accurate record of action items as they happen during the board meeting.

The individual vote of each board member

Julie Miller, OSSBA Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel

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by State TLE commission and State Board of Education. The Tulsa Model was developed from the ground up, in Oklahoma, with input and involvement from Oklahoma teachers and administrators.

should be recorded in the minutes. The minutes are not complete nor do they accurately reflect who voted in which manner if a vote is merely listed as "3-2, motion passes." Likewise, the motion itself cannot merely state “motion made by Smith, second by James on item 2” when item 2 isn’t clearly identified in the minutes. The meeting minutes are to be a standalone record of the board meeting. Failure to include enough information in the minutes creates potential problems for the school district when attempting to research a specific vote on an item in the minutes.

What Should NOT be Included in the Minutes?The minutes should not include a speech or written statements prepared by the administration or a member of the board of education. The fact that an issue was discussed should be included in the minutes. Inclusion of a verbatim transcript is not required.

The minutes are of the board meeting itself and belong to the district. The minutes are not for use as a personal soliloquy for board members or the superintendent.

How Quickly are Minutes to be Prepared?It is recommended that minutes be prepared as soon as possible in draft format following the board meeting. Oklahoma law requires “minutes shall be furnished within five (5) days after all such regular and/or special meetings to eligible newspapers requesting the same and that any such written request shall be effective and said minutes shall be furnished in compliance therewith for the current calendar year or remaining portion thereof unless a shorter period shall be specified in said request.” 25 O.S. § 115.

The board of education will most likely formally approve the minutes at its next meeting. When approving the minutes, the members of the board cannot change something that legally happened at the board meeting but should review the minutes to make sure they accurately reflect what happened at the meeting.

Where May Someone Access the Minutes? The Oklahoma Open Records Act requires minutes be made available for public inspection and copying. Where the records are to be accessed is a local control decision. It is recommended minutes be maintained in the central office of the school district. n

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Outside, the sky was dark, and rain fell steadily. But dozens of northeast Oklahoma school board members and superintendents didn’t let the dreary weather stop them from gathering for a conversation about the future of public education in Oklahoma. In fact, their enthusiasm was no match for the weather.

Shawn Hime, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, spoke passionately about the need to improve public education. The most difficult work, he said, rests firmly with educators and local school officials. At the same time, the education community must seek to regain its seat at the policymaking table to make sure state-level efforts to improve public education are research-based and, ultimately, good for students.

“It’s time for us to do more than tell lawmakers we don’t like their ideas,” Hime said. “We have to bring solutions to the table that we know will work for students.”

This scene played out more than a dozen times in September, October and November as OSSBA provided its annual fall training for board members and superintendents. More than 1,000 local school officials and a handful of legislators attended the regional meetings, which focused on For the People: A Vision for Oklahoma Public Education.

Christy Watson, OSSBA Director of Communications and Marketing

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• Affirm a state and local commitment to student success.

• Create and protect quality learning experiences for all students.

• Rebuild trust and support for education.

• Engage community stakeholders in the success of our public schools.

• Communicate a clear and effective vision for public education in Oklahoma.

• Ensure the voice of local public school and community leaders drives education policy and advocate for an educated citizenry as the way to move our economy forward.

For the People:A Vision for Oklahoma Public Education

seeks to:

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The initiative, a joint effort coordinated by OSSBA and the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration, articulates a clear mission: All Oklahoma public school students will learn in an environment that maximizes their potential and develops them as leaders who will contribute to a meaningful life in a democracy,

propelling our state forward into a competitive, global society.

A steering committee of administrators and school board members spent nearly two years delving into research to develop a solutions-based approach to guide schools and policymakers in efforts to improve education. The work focused on seven areas:

• Culture, climate and organizational efficacy

• Learning, teaching and assessing for student success

• Early and expanded learning opportunities for student success

• Governance, leadership and accountability

• Partnerships for human capital and organizational development

• Physical resources• Financial resources

At the fall meetings, board members and superintendents worked together to talk about how to put the project to work in their respective districts. They spoke about the need to improve community engagement, the proper role of technology, teacher recruitment and the importance of early childhood education.

The conversation looked and sounded differently at each of the regional

meetings. Rightfully so. For the People is not a one-size-fits-all mandate but rather a starting point for conversation about transforming public education, Hime said.

The presentation at regional meetings represented a widespread effort to inform local school officials about the

initiative’s findings. After the regional meetings wrapped up in November, OSSBA and CCOSA asked districts to demonstrate their commitment with a board resolution. Within just a few weeks, dozens of districts had demonstrated their support.

The resolution asks districts to say yes to:

• Local schools and communities working together to create supportive conditions for students both in and out of schools and to understand the culture and needs of their students.

• New strategies and approaches to learning, teaching and assessment, informed by what experts know about the art of teaching and science of learning.

• Authentic and meaningful early learning and out-of-class learning opportunities.

• A new local control dynamic in the pursuit of enhanced school governance, leadership and accountability that favors flexibility over one-size-fits-all programs and policies.

• Valuing, recruiting and retaining effective teachers in every Oklahoma public school classroom.

• Establishing a process to construct or reconstruct quality, equitable

learning environments, irrespective of a local school district’s financial condition.

• Meaningful collaboration with state policymakers for a long-term strategy to properly fund the people’s schools and coordination of any short- and long-term tax and spending policies in alignment with a long-term school funding strategy.

“We want our name attached to what For the People stands for,” said Kent Shellenberger, superintendent of Bethany Public Schools. “We believe it’s time to bring all the parties together, have a conversation about public education and move forward.”

Shellenberger served on For the People’s steering committee. He said the board’s adoption of the resolution also sought to acknowledge the hard work of the committee’s work to develop a unified vision.

Beth Schieber, who serves on the Okarche Public Schools Board of Education, said her district’s adoption of the resolution is recognition it’s time for public education advocates to be proactive.

“Our board realizes the committee, with the support of OSSBA AND CCOSA, has developed an amazing instrument to help revitalize and revamp education, and we’re enthusiastic about it,” said Schieber, who served on the steering committee and also is on OSSBA’s board of directors.

That For the People is based on research gives the initiative great credibility to serve “as a road map for success in any school,” she said.

“One of the things we discovered is many of the schools in Oklahoma are already doing many of the items outlined in the report. That’s very encouraging.”

Learn more at www.forthepeopleok.com n

We believe it’s time to bring all the parties together, have a conversation about public education and move forward.

Kent Shellenberger, superintendent of Bethany Public Schools

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Legend has it that, prior to statehood, Oklahoma was surveyed by a team of government agents. At the end

of the project, they met to compare their results, but all presented vastly different accounts of the same territory. One told of cypress swamps and alligators. Another reported foothills of the Rocky Mountains, dotted with ponderosa pines. Others described vast prairies teeming with the exotic pronghorn antelope. Parched deserts with ancient petroglyphs. Black bear in lush forests of hickory, oak, and pine. Impenetrable swaths of cross timbers. Crystal clear streams and muddy red rivers.

Those same surveyors, upon hearing such different descriptions, immediately doubted the veracity of their fellow agents. So passionate and unwavering

was their dedication that suspicion grew and conspiracies were alleged. Each knew their Oklahoma too intimately to be swayed, and none could imagine how it could be the same territory. Charts and maps were studied and contested. Testimonies were considered. The debate raged and divisions widened. But just about the time they had decided that Oklahoma was a myth, a scissor-tailed fly catcher perched among them.

One-by-one, they fell silent, mesmerized by the odd bird. For each of them had known the scissortail as a companion during their surveys. The same bird darted between the cross timbers. It perched in the cypress trees, and it spiraled gleefully over the waving prairies. From the Wichita Mountains to the Ozarks, they had all come to know this uniquely Oklahoma resident. In

time, they decided that their wildly conflicting views of Oklahoma were not only true, but in perfect agreement. That this state was as odd and as unpredictable as the little bird which guided their travels. Shortly thereafter, Oklahoma became a state, and the scissor-tailed flycatcher took its place as our state bird.

Such a story illustrates not only our state’s great ecological diversity, but also illustrates a tragic flaw in human nature. For even

when people share passion and goals, they often cannot come together because their disparate perspectives prove to be insurmountable. We face the same situation today in Oklahoma in regard to education. We all desperately want the best educational system. Yet, our perspectives on the issue are so vastly different that suspicions have grown and conspiracies are alleged. Where is our flycatcher?

I am hopeful that it has arrived in For the People: A Vision for Oklahoma Public Education. It casts a common-sense vision for staffing schools, for increasing accountability, for balanced assessment of instruction, for responsible funding, and for school facilities. It values workforce development just as the State Chamber of Commerce does. It addresses the concerns of Parent Legislative Action Committees and PTAs regarding over-testing. It elevates rigor and content as high as the toughest reform models sweeping the states. And most importantly, it focuses on children’s needs, just as the best of our educators would.

As we dig a little deeper each week into the Oklahoma State School Boards Association’s vision, I hope to see that it embraces the different perspectives on education in Oklahoma in such a way as to engender a trustworthy map for moving forward. We do not need to force our legislators to choose between the Oklahoma of cypress swamps or desert mesas; nor must we demonize those who see education through the cross timbers. I sincerely believe that we all want the best educational system for Oklahoma and that our perspectives can be reconciled. And I earnestly hope that we have finally found our flycatcher. Please visit www.forthepeopleok.com to see for yourself.

This column was originally published in the Lawton Constitution. n

Tom Deighan, Superintendent of Lawton Public Schools.

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President Obama signed The Affordable Care Act ("ACA") on March 23, 2010. Starting in January 2015, penalties can be imposed if a school district offers the superintendent more health insurance benefits than is provided to other employees. Consequently, the amount of health insurance paid to the superintendent in excess of that provided to other employees must be treated as taxable income or the act’s "nondiscrimination" rules will apply.

Nondiscrimination rules prohibit a group health insurance plan from discriminating with regard to health benefits as per Rev. Notice 2010-63, 2010-41 IRB. Nondiscrimination penalties are very stringent. The penalty imposed could be as much as $100 per employee discriminated against per day. Rev. Notice 2010-63, 2010-41 IRB.

If the district has 71 employees including the superintendent and the superintendent receives more health insurance than other employees, the school district could be subject to a $7,000 penalty each day that the discrimination continues. Retained legal counsel should review and revise any superintendent contract providing more health insurance benefit than is offered to any other employee as soon as possible to prevent the IRS from assessing the school district any penalties or assessments. The following

paragraphs should be considered when amending the Superintendent’s contract to address this issue:

A. Insurance: Health and Hospitalization and Dental Insurance. The School District shall provide the Superintendent with health and hospitalization and dental insurance coverage under the School District’s group health and hospitalization and dental insurance plans at the School District's expense.

[or] The School District shall provide the Superintendent and the Superintendent’s dependents with health and hospitalization insurance coverage under the School District’s group health and hospitalization insurance plan. The School District shall contribute $_______ per month toward the premium for such insurance. This is the sum the district pays for all employees. The Superintendent shall pay the balance of the premium through payroll deduction. The School District shall also provide the Superintendent and the Superintendent’s dependents with dental insurance coverage under the School District’s group dental insurance plan. The School District shall contribute

$_______ per month toward the premium for such insurance. The Superintendent shall pay the premium's balance through payroll deduction.

NOTE: In the event this Contract will cause or does cause penalties, fees or fines assessed against the School District, the parties agree to reopen negotiations that result in a revised Contract between the parties that eliminates or reduces penalties, fees, or fines to be assessed against the School District. The amount of any reduction in the School District’s contribution toward the Superintendent’s health care benefits as a result of addressing the “highly compensated employee” component of the ACA will be placed into another School District provided benefit(s) (i.e., a retirement HRA, salary, etc.).

The board of education and superintendent should address this issue at the earliest possible opportunity. An executive session could be worded as follows: Proposed executive session to discuss the employment and/or contractual terms of the superintendent. An action item could be worded as follows: Discussion and possible board action to modify the health insurance terms in the superintendent’s employment contract. n

It’s Policy Julie L. Miller, OSSBA Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel

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Michael Barlow, Barlow Education Management Services

Lately I have given incorrect information to people who ask me how well the state funds our schools. I have erroneously made the comment that our schools are operating in 2014 at the 2008 funding level. In actuality, it’s worse. In 2008, common education funding was $2,510,412,567. In 2014, it is $2,407,604,082. This demonstrates that our 2014 funding is over $100 million less than 2008 levels. No wonder there is no money for teacher pay raises.

I have been involved in Oklahoma education since 1968 when I began my teaching career at U.S. Grant High School in Oklahoma City. Over the past 46 years, my career has included: classroom teacher, union leader, school administrator, school administrator association lobbyist, and for the past 27 years, independent consultant. In my consulting capacity, I have traveled to schools in every corner of our state, thus I feel somewhat qualified to comment on the issue of teacher pay.

Teacher pay in Oklahoma ranks 49th in the

nation. During my career, I can never remember the ranking making any higher than 46th; we seem to languish near the bottom and, as a state, seem satisfied with that position.

I submit that the problem is not really the starting salary. A salary of $32,000, plus retirement benefits and fully paid health insurance, is a decent start for a young college graduate who has likely been working at McDonald's all his/her teenage years. My starting salary in 1968 was $5,750. According to government statistics, the average house cost was $24,700 in 1968, and the equivalent today is $155,300. The average car in 1968 cost $2,822, with today’s cost being $17,743. The average wage in 1968 was $5,572, and today it’s $35,034. We can see the starting teacher salary is not far from the average wage across the labor spectrum. I guess to split hairs one could note that my starting salary in 1968 was slightly above the average wage, while today’s teacher average is a few thousand dollars behind. But, as I stated earlier, the beginning salary is not the problem.

The real problem is the maximum salary. The State Minimum Salary Schedule, which includes the health insurance fringe benefit, tops out at $46,000 for a teacher's with a doctorate and 25 years of experience. About 200 school districts across the state pay salaries above the minimum, mostly in and around our major urban areas. This leaves teachers in approximately 330 of our state’s 527 school districts with the minimum salary that tops out at $46,000. Even a teacher in

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A p p l i c a t i o n s

A p p e a l s & A u d i t s

R F P s & T e c h P l a n s

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a district that pays more than the minimum will be hard pressed to find a salary at or much above $50,000.

I believe that if teaching is a true profession, the movement from $32,000 to $50,000 should be achieved in about five years - or six or seven or 10 - or some reasonable amount of time given the preparation for, the importance of and the demands of the job within the profession.

Now, I know that in 2014 everyone is all about evaluation and accountability, and certainly we all want and should demand effective teachers in every classroom. When I go to the doctor, I want the best doctor. When I go to a restaurant, I want the best cook. Why not demand the best teacher? No argument there from me.

In 2010, the state legislature passed a massive overhaul to our teacher evaluation system. We are now in the process of continual implementation of the Teacher Leader and Effectiveness (TLE) model enacted by the legislature. To date, as we implement the law, we have been using a qualitative model that basically measures a teacher’s performance in the classroom through a variety of methods including: principal

observation, teacher artifacts, teacher portfolios and the overall contribution each teacher makes to the education of each child and the school as a whole.

Unfortunately when the 2015-16 school year arrives, our evaluation model will include a 50 percent component based upon quantitative measures and will be heavily weighted on value-added student test scores. The debate is raging nationwide, and the use of student value-added test scores is losing ground daily. In state after state, including Florida where this movement began, lawsuits are being filed against the value-added testing model for its inaccuracies in truly measuring teacher performance.

To sum it up, we should evaluate our teachers on their classroom and school-wide performance and demand nothing less than an effective teacher in every classroom. Concurrently, we must pay our teachers a professional wage. The money to accomplish these goals cannot come from local school districts. It will take hundreds of millions of dollars from the Oklahoma State Legislature, and these funds will be available if we’d stop concentrating on tax cuts and more on the needs of our students and teachers. n

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LWPB Architecture

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The reduced prices will save districts over $200 in fees associated with the placement of your school district’s policy manual online. In future years, all the district would pay is the annual hosting fee. Please contact Julie Miller at juliem@ossba.org or call 888-528-3571 for more information.

Policy Pages Conversion Fee Hosting Fee Total Cost<300 $1000.00 $700.00 $1,700.00300 to 500 $1450.00 $1000.00 $2,450.00501 to 700 $1,700.00 $1,300.00 $3,000.00

OSSBA is offering a reduction in the cost of placing your policy manual online. The first year fees have been reduced as follows:

OnlinePolicyProgram

a service of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association

Order Form

Board Member Resource MaterialsIf you would like to order the Board Member Resource Materials, please complete the form below. Material packets sell for $75.00 each for OSSBA members; $150 each for non-members. Postage will be added if two or more packets are mailed. Packets will be mailed to the office of the school district superintendent unless other procedures are requested. School funds may be used to purchase these packets.

Name ______________________________________________________________________________________________

School _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Address of School ____________________________________________________________________________________

City ___________________________________________________State ________________ Zip ____________________

County _________________________________________________School Phone _________________________________

Number of Board Member Resource Packets ordered ________________________________________________________

To order individual materials, see below:

Publications sell for $15.00 each for OSSBA Members and $30.00 for non-members (postage will be charged for two or more books).

NOTE: These publications are all included in the Board Member Resource Materials.

Quantity Publication

_______ The School Board Member Handbook

_______ Opening (Slightly) the Door to the District’s Accounting System

_______ Employee Interviews: Avoiding Legal Challenges During the Pre-Employment Process

_______ The Oklahoma School Board Meeting Guidebook

_______ Sample Forms and Contracts for Oklahoma Public School Districts

The NSBA/OSSBA publication, Key Works of School Boards Guidebook, is also available for a cost of $25.00 for members and $50.00 for non-members. This publication is not included in the Board Member Resource Materials.

Total Payment Due: ________________________________

Purchase Order Number (if applicable) _________________

For more information, call (405) 528-3571 or (888) 528-3571

FAX this form to: Mail to: OSSBA OSSBA Attn: David Crane Attn: David Crane (405) 528-5695 OR 2801 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 125 Oklahoma City, OK 73105

Oklahoma State School Boards Association

NONPROFITORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDOKLA. CITY, OK

PERMIT NO. 1049

Oklahoma State School Boards Association2801 North Lincoln Blvd., Ste. 125Oklahoma City, OK 73105405.528.3571 • 888.528.3571405.528.5695 fax • www.ossba.org

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