Introducing the Hotlist Watchlist
State education legislation to watch for the week of February 13 - 17
Fifty governors inform education policy from their bully pulpits. But, they cannot and should not do the work of agenda-setting alone. Families and advocates can push our 99 state legislative chambers, including 7,386 seats, to improve U. S. schools.
With this in mind, we are kicking off the Hotlist Watchlist. The watchlist curates education bills proposed or enacted across U.S. state legislatures. It aims to elevate policies that do one of two things, (a) offer a distinctive solution grounded in sound evidence or (b) propose a partisan, divisive policy that does little to secure lasting solutions.
Both bill types deserve extra attention and care each legislative session.
Here's why. Implementing evidence-backed policies ensures that school systems lead with outcomes in mind. And analyzing partisan policies helps us understand conflicting views so we can work to build bridges for the future.
The Hotlist Watchlist can help advocates and leaders keep the pulse on hot state policy issues as they traverse their state and local work. By reviewing state policy examples from across the country, stakeholders can unpack nuances that should be addressed in their contexts.
Here’s how it works:
l will highlight a few bills below each week and add them to the Hotlist Watchlist spreadsheet.
The legislation will come from resources I use for the weekly education policy hotlist newsletter.
Please forward me suggestions of bills to add or follow and let me know if there are topics, tags, or important takes you think are missing.
FEATURED LEGISLATION
This week’s roundup spans teacher licensure, funding, and career and technical education. The first bill enacted in North Dakota is a statewide investment in career academies. North Dakota leaders should look to Alaska. They used federal relief funding to build cohesion into their statewide CTE programs during Covid-19.
Oregon Governor, Tina Kotek, included early literacy in her top three priorities. The Oregon legislature is working through a bill to focus on professional learning in the science of reading. The proposed policy is vital to ensuring Oregon students achieve reading success. Yet, it’s becoming clear that a literacy revolution in Oregon will take a few legislative cycles. Those following this bill should focus on how the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) will implement professional learning. Also, ODE can proactively hold districts accountable for tutoring decisions, like how students are identified for programming.
Finally, Utah plays a political balancing act by funding students and teachers. An enrolled bill establishes a new scholarship program for supplemental education and doubles teacher salary increases.
CO HB 23-1064 enacts the "Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact,” making it easier for teachers to move licensure from one member state to another.
OR SB 259 allows a student resident in Oregon to attend any public school and removes the cap on the proportion of students permitted to participate in certain virtual public charter schools.
OR HB 3024 expands the role of district school boards in selecting or developing and implementing courses of study.
OR HB 3198 establishes the Early Literacy Success Initiative. Prescribes purposes and requirements under the initiative (e.g., professional learning and tutoring). Authorizes the Department of Education to use money from Statewide Education Initiatives Account for Early Literacy Success Initiative.
OR HB 2710 requires school districts to file with the Superintendent of Public Instruction information about allocations and expenditures of money received from the State School Fund.
ND HB 1199 invests $68 million into career academies across North Dakota.
UT HB 215 establishes Utah Fits All Scholarship Program providing funding for additional learning opportunities and doubling planned teacher salary increases.
Dr. Christine M. T. Pitts serves as Director of Impact and Communications at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, overseeing policy leadership and external affairs. A teacher and researcher by training, she previously led research and evaluation for Portland Public Schools. Pitts also served as Policy Advisor at NWEA, overseeing state and federal policy to advance equity and innovation in educational assessment. Follow her for more updates on Linkedin, Instagram, and Twitter.