Transcript Highlights:

• So, rural schools and small schools are something near and dear to me.
• We can do school A that has two programs, school B that has three programs, and school C that has one
• I also want to point out that this year We required any school that was a designated school, a CSI school
• So not in high school. Maybe it was good for middle school.
• score to evaluate your school, your school program?

Transcript Highlights:

• We've had schools like four-star schools and those kind of things in the past.
• Great school improvement processes.
• in their schools.
• School districts had approximately 47 school policies that they needed to update last year to conform
• Idaho public school.

Committee: Senate Education

Summary: The committee first heard Senate Bill 1339 from Sen. Dave Lent, who described it as an education accountability and modernization measure that shifts schools away from compliance-driven reporting toward locally set, measurable student-outcome goals. He said the bill would reduce unnecessary reporting, provide a three-year support and intervention cycle for struggling schools, and recognize excellence while preserving local control. Victoria Young testified in opposition, arguing the bill echoed No Child Left Behind-style accountability and could unfairly single out schools, while Quinn Perry of the Idaho School Boards Association supported the bill but raised a limited concern about intervention language that could affect local authority over calendars or budgets. The committee then took up House Bill 516, a cleanup bill related to last year’s prohibition on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity. Rep. Dale Hawkins and Doug Taylor said the bill simply removes leftover “age appropriate/developmentally appropriate” language from the prior law, arguing that the K-12 prohibition is already absolute and the extra phrase creates confusion and legal uncertainty. Opponents, including Mary Brown, Jean Henscheide, Scaruleen, Nissa Nagle, and Jeffrey Watkins, argued the change would eliminate age-appropriate instruction, parental choice, and classroom discussion of relevant history, literature, and current events, and could chill instruction affecting LGBTQ students and broader education. Supporters, including Grace Howitt of the Idaho Family Policy Center, said districts had not consistently implemented the prior law and that the bill would better protect parents and prevent what they described as inappropriate gender instruction. Committee members pressed witnesses on whether the bill conflicted with existing Idaho Code, especially the older family-life and sex-education statute that leaves policy decisions to local school boards, and whether removing the phrase could create unintended effects on teaching topics like puberty, Supreme Court cases, or literature. After debate, Sen. Nichols moved to send HB 516 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation, but Sen. Burtenshaw offered an alternate motion to hold the bill at the call of the chair. The committee adopted the motion to hold HB 516 at the call of the chair, so no floor recommendation was issued.

Transcript Highlights:

• School board members, that's not the role of a school board member to take attendance.
• , it's no contact with the school for the first 15 days of the next school year, the school district
• ><c> the</c><00:04:52.400><c> school</c> days of the next school year the school days of the next school
• It's not just a school issue, though we would love it to be just a school issue.
• It's not just a school issue, though we would love it to be just a school issue.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• K12 private school kids private school K12 private school kids in<00:26:57.279><c> Minnesota.
• It serves elementary, middle school, and high school students.
• It serves elementary, middle school, and high school students.
• </c> non-public schools and charter schools. non-public schools and charter schools.
• ,</c> schools and traditional public schools, schools and traditional public schools, which<01:23:31.120

Committee: Senate Education Finance

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We've done it in other schools. We've done it in other schools, school districts around Texas.
• Yes, that's true in public schools.
• Two of my schools in our school district in Bernie ISD.
• I think that schools like to maintain their end... going through an empty school, very different than
• The driving that number is the data on how many times have multiple schools not had a school shooter,

Committee: Senate Education K-16

Summary: The Senate Committee on Education K-16 met with a quorum and announced a full agenda, including combined public testimony for two bills related to student personal communication devices. The committee first took up Senate Bill 1262 by Senator Nichols, a school safety cleanup bill following House Bill 3. The bill would allow TEA to commission peace officers for school safety purposes, require annual renewal of good-cause exceptions to armed guard requirements, create a new report based on intruder detection audits and vulnerability assessments, and require behavioral threat assessment teams to include someone with specific knowledge of a special education student’s disability. Committee members asked about the difference between TCOLE licensing and TEA commissioning, the scope of the officers’ authority, and how the good-cause exception would work. The committee substitute was adopted, and public testimony included support from school safety and drone-response advocates, Disability Rights Texas in favor of the special education provisions, and a student witness raising concerns about the mental health impact of repeated lockdowns and the need for immediate, reliable school safety responses. The bill was left pending after testimony, then the committee briefly recessed and later reopened testimony to hear the student witness. The committee then laid out Senate Bill 2252 by Senator Creighton, a major early literacy and numeracy bill for kindergarten through third grade. Creighton said the bill builds on prior literacy efforts by funding teacher stipends for literacy and math academies, providing free and clearly administered screeners and assessments, expanding screening options, clarifying how results are used, supporting high-quality pre-K, and increasing the early education allotment. He emphasized low reading performance and the need for early intervention. Members discussed how the bill differs from earlier academy models and whether the assessments are diagnostic or high-stakes; Creighton and witnesses said the tools are intended to identify students needing support, not to serve as punitive testing. The committee adopted the substitute. Witnesses for SB 2252 largely supported the bill. A Uplift Education representative described strong gains from small-group literacy tutoring and said students receiving targeted support can make more than a year of growth in a year. An education specialist explained that the bill aligns general education screening with existing dyslexia and special education practices and helps districts identify students who need intervention before a disability evaluation is required. A Commit Partnership witness cited statewide reading data, the importance of high-quality pre-K, and the need for transparent, consistent progress monitoring and parent engagement. Members asked about the meaning of the growth data, how dyslexia screening works, and how the bill would help identify struggling students earlier. Before finishing all questions, the committee recessed subject to the call of the chair after the floor session.

Transcript Highlights:

• c> Community</c><00:32:11.760><c> School</c> name of school I hener Community School name of school I
• But yes, you're high school. It is high school.
• ><00:49:13.160><c> sign</c><00:49:13.720><c> I</c> school it is High School Middle sign I school it is
• schools.
• schools.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Finance Committee Division II met with the New Hampshire Department of Education to review school nutrition programs and related funding. Department staff Melissa White and Kelly Rambo walked through a packet covering the National School Lunch Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Community Eligibility (CEP), After School Snack Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and Summer Food Service Program, explaining that these are federally funded USDA programs, with some state supplemental funding in certain areas. They also reviewed reimbursement rates for lunch, breakfast, child/adult care, and summer meals, noting that summer rates follow calendar-year timing while most others follow the state fiscal year. Members asked several questions about how the funding works, especially the difference between federal reimbursements and the state match. Staff explained that the state lunch line in the budget is a fixed match amount tied to federal participation, while breakfast funding is broken out by meal type and reimbursement category. They also discussed why FY 2022 federal spending was much higher during COVID, when USDA covered meals at the free rate for all students, and why FY 2023 and FY 2024 dropped as normal income-eligibility rules returned. A committee member also asked about the “severe need lunch” two-cent rate, and staff said they did not know USDA’s formula. A substantial portion of the meeting focused on summer meals and the distinction between the Summer Food Service Program and Summer EBT. Staff explained that SFSP provides meals at approved sites, which can be open or closed sites, while Summer EBT is a separate DHHS-operated benefit program that provides funds to families. They said some schools or sites may not qualify under USDA rules, but eligible children can often use another nearby open site, and the department posts an interactive map and phone line to help families find locations. The committee also discussed the Community Eligibility Provision. Staff said New Hampshire currently has three CEP schools, that the eligibility threshold had recently been lowered from 40% to 25% identified students, and that the program allows participating schools to offer free meals to all students while the local district covers the non-federal share. Members asked whether any districts in the 25% to 40% range had joined; staff said no. The department offered to provide the eligibility report in Excel and noted that the CEP intent is to reduce application burden, though the lower threshold can make the local cost share harder for some districts to absorb.

Transcript Highlights:

• He said that by August, when 13,000 school teachers go back to 295 schools and wait for 27,000 school
• School more of the we have Urban schools School more of the we have Urban schools like<00:25:57.520><
• at least one middle school and one elementary school had to offer it.
• of school facilities, the daily school operations and implementation of public school curriculum remain
• However, it's on school property, and principals still have control of their schools. midd high school

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• They can specialize in public schools, home education, charter schools, and private schools.
• , a charter school, or a private school.
• Only some schools do that. Only some school districts do that. Only some schools do that.
• school tax credit.
• of public schools.

Bills: SB1042 , SB1043 , SB1044 , SB1135 , SB1136 , SB1142 , SB1180 , SB1221 , SB1252 , SB1254 , SCR1003

Committee: Senate Finance

Keywords: public funds, virtual currency, bitcoin, investment, Arizona Strategic Digital Asset Reserve Act, state treasurer, retirement system, state payments, cryptocurrency, Arizona law, payment methods, government transactions, property tax, tax exemption, Arizona Revised Statutes, digital currency, workers' compensation, death benefits, burial costs, spousal compensation

Transcript Highlights:

• before school programs.
• school...
• We're not saying get rid of public schools. Public schools are wonderful.
• schools during school hours.
• Within the school system?

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We've had schools like four-star schools and those kind of things in the past.
• years of high school transitioning.
• Straight cis high school students are interacting with LGBT high school students every day of their lives
• in their schools.
• School districts had approximately 47 school policies that they needed to update last year to conform

Committee: Senate Education

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• going through high school.
• as well as charter schools.
• as well as charter schools.
• as well as charter schools.
• traditional public schools and open-enrollment public charter schools.

Summary: The House and Senate Education Committee first approved minutes from February 2 and 3, then took up an interim study proposal on adult education and the Excel Center model. Representatives from Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, the Excel Center network, and the University of Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities testified that roughly 300,000 Arkansans over age 19 lack a high school diploma or GED, and argued that the Excel Center provides a supported diploma pathway for adults who struggle with GED testing. Witnesses highlighted wraparound services such as free child care, transportation assistance, tutoring, life coaching, and career services, and cited outcomes including high retention, growing enrollment, and research showing higher employment and earnings and lower criminal justice involvement for graduates. Committee members raised questions about the state’s role, existing adult education programs, and how the study would be structured; the motion to adopt the ISP passed, though there was some procedural disagreement about when questions should have been taken. The committee then heard a detailed adequacy funding overview from BLR staff Katie Walden and Adrian Beck on Arkansas K-12 education finance. They reviewed national funding principles and explained Arkansas’s system, including state and local revenue sources, the Public School Fund, the Educational Excellence Trust Fund, the Educational Adequacy Fund, and the Facilities Partnership Program. Staff said K-12 state and local revenues totaled $6.6 billion in 2025, with foundation funding making up the largest share of district and charter funding, followed by additional, categorical, and supplemental funds. They also explained the matrix-based foundation formula, the role of the uniform rate of tax, and how categorical and supplemental funds support areas such as alternative learning, English learners, special education high-cost cases, teacher salary equalization, declining enrollment, and student growth. Members asked several follow-up questions about how specific funding categories are defined and used, including student support staff, instructional aides, special education high-cost occurrences, ALE funding, teacher salary equalization, and the inclusion of Excel Center amounts in state-local funding totals. Staff said some of those details would be addressed in a later presentation and offered to provide additional records, including district lists and historical information. The meeting ended after the funding overview, with no additional votes or actions beyond the ISP adoption and adjournment.

Transcript Highlights:

• a public school system.
• So we come, we at school, at the school level, we are there for all of our kids.
• The school-centered neighborhood development model... ...models centering schools in action.
• schools and school-centered neighborhood development work.
• Schools can't do it all.

Bills: S3022 , H5187

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses

Keywords: ENOUGH Act, ENOUGH fund, anti-poverty, poverty reduction, community development, place-based grants, distressed neighborhoods, economic mobility, housing and livable communities, community schools, cradle-to-career, child poverty, intergenerational poverty, social services, workforce development, education equity, public health, behavioral health, mental health, affordable housing

Transcript Highlights:

• , they got to be out of school for 5 days before there's funds appropriated to the school.
• , they got to be out of school for 5 days before there's funds appropriated to the school.
• We love our public schools. Our teachers day of inerson school.
• And if you were here for the virtual<00:28:11.520><c> school</c> virtual school virtual school testimony
• </c> just like every school in the state. just like every school in the state.

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The Senate Education Committee heard House Bill 132, which would change home and hospital instruction funding so schools can be reimbursed sooner when students miss school for short-term mental health-related stays. Representative Nick Wilson said current law requires a student to be out five days before funding begins, leaving schools unpaid when they provide instruction during 2- to 4-day absences. The committee gave HB 132 favorable expression unanimously. The committee then heard House Bill 193, a cleanup bill on dual credit scholarships. Representative J.T. Payne and KHEAA’s director explained that the bill consolidates academic and CTE dual credit scholarships into one statute to reduce administrative confusion, since the programs have been funded together in recent budgets. HB 193 passed unanimously with favorable expression. House Bill 241 drew the most discussion. The committee first adopted a substitute, which members said changed the bill to give the Commissioner of Education discretion, rather than a mandate, to grant calamity days. The bill and substitute centered on virtual instruction and Cloverport Virtual Academy: supporters said the school was a pilot project that needed more time and that a prior agency effort to cap virtual instruction would have effectively shut it down, while opponents argued the substitute would reward a low-performing virtual model and extend NTI/virtual learning too broadly. Testimony from an Oldham County parent criticized NTI quality and opposed adding more virtual days. No final vote on HB 241 was included in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• for public schools and public school students across the state.
• for public schools and public school students across the state.
• Alabama schools.
• </c> schools that achieved 100%. schools that achieved 100%.
• </c><01:15:36.000><c> general</c> high schools or the schools in general high schools or the schools

Committee: House Education Policy

Keywords: 1136, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• or school district is then.
• A coach per LEA, not a coach per school. It's a coach per school.
• Schools may begin using the screening instrument to screen students in the 2026-2027 school year, with
• They depend on the reduced price or free meal programs, such as the National School Lunch and School
• At the high school levels, they do have prep kitchens, but at the elementary and middle schools, they

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• school.
• Um school level or a school ADM basis.
• </c> and high school ADM at the school level. and high school ADM at the school level.
• Campbell County School District No. 1, Sublette County School District No. 1, and Lincoln County School
• and each<01:31:57.840><c> school</c><01:31:58.239><c> district</c> each school district each school

Committee: Joint Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration

Keywords: 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• District, Bainbridge Island School District, and Concrete School District.
• And Concrete School District.
• it's a small school district, in the Concrete School District.
• accessible for our schools.
• With our size, we have about 435 students in two schools, an elementary school and a high school.

Bills: HB1795

Committee: House Education

Keywords: restraint, isolation, public schools, educational programs, student rights, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• a public school system.
• So we come, we at school, at the school level, we are there for all of our kids.
• The school-centered neighborhood development model models centering schools in action.
• schools and school-centered neighborhood development work.
• Schools can't do it all.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses

Summary: The Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business held its final hearing of the session on H. 5187 and S. 3022, the Enough Act, which would create a grant program to support place-based, cradle-to-career anti-poverty initiatives in high-need communities. Chairs Andy Vargas and Sen. Adam Gómez opened the hearing by thanking committee members and stakeholders, and several lawmakers, including Sen. Sal DiDomenico, Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian, and Rep. Antonio Cabral, described the bill as a bottom-up approach that would let local organizations, schools, and community partners direct resources where they are most needed. They emphasized that poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, and chronic absenteeism are interconnected and that the bill is intended to build local “backbone” infrastructure rather than fund isolated programs. A series of educators, school leaders, and nonprofit advocates testified in support, including leaders from Chelsea Public Schools, Bunker Hill Community College, Strategies for Children, AFT Massachusetts, United Way, the Boston Foundation, the New Commonwealth Fund, Give Black Alliance, Eastern Bank Foundation, and the Greater Boston Food Bank. They argued that schools alone cannot overcome the effects of concentrated poverty and pointed to research showing that children arrive at school already affected by poverty-related gaps. Several witnesses described existing local efforts in Chelsea, Boston, New Bedford, Springfield, Haverhill, and Lowell, and said the Enough Act would help coordinate services, align data and goals, and strengthen community voice. Some also noted that the bill could leverage philanthropic and private investment and cited Maryland and Harlem Children’s Zone as models. The hearing also featured testimony from Harlem Children’s Zone CEO Kwame Owusu-Kesse and founder Jeffrey Canada, who said the model has shown that sustained, coordinated supports can reduce the role of luck in children’s outcomes and should be scaled in Massachusetts. Committee members asked about sustainability, funding, and how the bill would interact with existing efforts such as community schools, the Student Opportunity Act, and McKinney-Vento homelessness supports. Witnesses responded that the bill would complement those programs by creating a broader, community-led framework and that long-term sustainability would require public, philanthropic, and private support. No vote was taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• The act applies to school districts, charter schools, and state tribal education compact schools, and
• So many stories from students who have lost their friends, middle school, high school, across our state
• First, this legislation requires that after 2027, anytime a school district, charter school, or state
• I attended Orleans Parish Public Schools as a young child and Catholic schools since then.
• I attended Orleans Parish Public Schools as a young child and Catholic schools since then.

Summary: The committee held public hearings on three K-12 bills focused on behavioral health, literacy, and review of education mandates. On House Bill 1634, staff and Rep. Milin Tai described a framework for OSPI and educational service districts to coordinate with state and local partners on behavioral health technical assistance and training for schools, aligned with the Washington Thriving prenatal-to-25 plan. Testifiers, including students and education/behavioral health representatives, said the bill would improve coordination, early intervention, and access to supports for students and families. The bill was presented as having no fiscal note because it relies on existing funding, and testimony emphasized parent and student engagement in the framework. On House Bill 2636, staff and Rep. Skyler Rude explained that the bill creates a Public Education Review Steering Committee to identify existing policies and funding provisions for JLARC review, with the goal of determining whether they achieve intended outcomes, improve student performance, are cost-effective, and should be maintained, modified, or repealed. Supporters said the bill is intended to help reduce burdensome or ineffective requirements on school districts and free resources for students, while some members questioned how the committee would define policy and whether it could affect future mandates. A representative of the Washington State School Directors Association supported the concept as a meaningful review of unfunded mandates. The committee also heard House Bill 1295, which would require evidence-aligned literacy curriculum updates after 2027, require comprehensive K-4 literacy programs using structured literacy practices, direct PESB to revise literacy endorsement standards, require literacy-related continuing education, and direct OSPI to develop educator literacy training. Supporters, including parents, educators, students, dyslexia advocates, and district staff, argued that structured literacy is supported by research and would improve outcomes for struggling readers and students with dyslexia. One witness from the Washington Education Association supported the bill but raised concern about adding another continuing-education requirement. Testimony on the bill was extensive and largely in favor, with some discussion about whether the approach would address older students and how it would interact with existing district and ESD efforts. After public hearings, the committee moved into executive session and approved three gubernatorial appointments for confirmation recommendation. It adopted an amendment to House Bill 1796 and advanced the bill to Ways and Means, passed Engrossed House Bill 2317 to Rules, and adopted a striking amendment to Substitute House Bill 2594 before advancing it to Ways and Means. All actions were taken by voice vote, with no opposition recorded.

Transcript Highlights:

• School counselors are required...
• I'm a 36-year veteran public school teacher.
• On the counselors, I have taught 17 years at the high school. And public school teacher.
• high school students.
• And when I was in high school, we had so many college counselors in the high school that I went to.

Committee: Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre-K - 12 Education

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Summary: The Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education met and first temporarily postponed SB 920, the mathematics education bill. The committee then took up SB 1216 on public school personnel compensation, with Senator Rodriguez explaining that the bill would give districts more flexibility in educator pay by restoring meaningful cost-of-living adjustments for teachers with direct student contact, allowing districts to recognize relevant advanced degrees, and removing rigid performance-pay caps. Several senators spoke in support, emphasizing teacher retention, compensation, and the need to invest more in education. The bill was reported favorably by a unanimous roll call vote. The committee next heard SB 1036 on school counselors, presented by Senator Calatayud, which aims to address counselor shortages by removing certification barriers tied to classroom teacher requirements and expanding the pool of eligible applicants. Testimony and discussion focused heavily on the shortage of counselors, high student-to-counselor ratios, and the impact on academic guidance and student mental health. Students and a veteran teacher described limited access to counselors, overburdened staff, and the need for more support personnel; Senator Osgood also noted the role of BRACE advisors and broader student support needs. The bill was reported favorably as CS for SB 1036 by unanimous vote. During the counselor bill discussion, senators also reflected on access and equity in college and career advising, with comments about the need for more efficient use of counselor time and better outreach from Florida colleges. The meeting ended after members recorded their votes on the two bills and, with no objection, adjourned.