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LEGISLATION
2007-2008 AFT Massachusetts Legislation
On December 10, 2006 the AFT Massachusetts Executive Board approved the filing of 24 bills for the 2007-2008 session of the Massachusetts Legislature. The legislative filing deadline was January 10, 2007. The AFT Massachusetts bills would allocate state funds for new education programs, provide tuition assistance for teachers, improve pension benefits for school workers and strengthen state labor laws. A description of the bills follows:
Education
Safe schools
House 455, sponsored by Rep. Kevin G. Honan, D-Allston, would give teachers the authority to remove disruptive students from the classroom, require that districts provide alternative education programs for students removed from class, and establish an alternative education grant program to award state grants to school districts that submit alternative education plans.
Recertification
House 397, sponsored by Rep. Antonio F. Cabral, D-New Bedford, would reduce to $25 from $100 the fee charged teachers for the recertification required under the Education Reform Law.
Collaborative teachers
House 450, sponsored by Rep. Lida Harkins, D-Needham, would ensure teachers in collaborative schools of due process rights by giving them professional teaching status under the Education Reform Law.
Benefits for members:
MLS Tuition Assistance
Senate 2009, sponsored by Sen. Michael Morrissey, D-Quincy, would establish a grant program to aid librarians studying to earn a Masters of Library Science degree.
Loan reimbursements
Senate 382, sponsored by Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Boston, would expand the Attracting Excellence to Education program under which teachers meeting high academic standards receive stipends to pay off college loans.
Free tuition program
House 1199, sponsored by Rep. Steven Myles Walsh, D-Lynn, would provide free tuition at state colleges and universities for teachers and paraprofessionals taking education-related courses.
Pension benefits:
Lower contributions
House 2822 , sponsored by Rep. Martin Walsh, D-Boston, would lower the rate of contributions teachers must pay into the Teacher Retirement System.
School nurses
House 243, sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth A. Malia, D-Boston, would bring school nurses into the Teacher Retirement System.
Credit for nurses
Senate 1524, sponsored by Sen. Brian Joyce, D-Milton, would allow school nurses to count years of school service before their inclusion in the Teacher Retirement System toward pension benefits under the Retirement Plus program.
Rejoining system
House 2803, sponsored by Rep. Martin Walsh, D-Dorchester, would allow teachers who are rehired after being laid off and withdrawing money from their retirement accounts to rejoin the retirement system with contributions at the level that prevailed when they first entered teaching.
Benefits in layoffs
House 1513, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, would allow teachers laid off for budgetary reasons to credit time out of work toward their retirement benefits.
Sick buildings disability
House 290, sponsored by Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, D-Peabody, would make school and other public employees suffering lung or respiratory tract illnesses because of "sick building" conditions eligible for disability retirement benefits.
Compensation credits
Senate 1487, sponsored by Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, would allow teachers to include all pay received for academic duties beyond their regular teaching as part of their salary on which retirement benefits are based.
VISTA credits
House 2560, sponsored by Rep. Geoffrey Hall, D-Westford, would allow public school teachers to credit toward their retirement benefits years spent in VISTA or Indian Bureau programs.
Non-public school teaching
Senate 1631, sponsored by Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, would allow public school teachers to credit toward their retirement benefits years spent teaching in non-public schools after Jan. 1, 1973. (Earlier legislation allows such buy-backs for non-public school teaching before 1973.)
Higher education:
Higher education contracts
House 2697, sponsored by Reps. John F. Quinn, D-Dartmouth, and William Straus, D-Mattapoisett, would require the governor to send to the Legislature for funding collective bargaining agreements reached by administrators and unions at state colleges and universities.
Tenure decisions
House 1239, sponsored by Rep. Patricia D. Jehlen, D-Somerville, would require the UMass Board of Trustees to make faculty tenure awards in open session on request of the faculty member under consideration or allow the faculty member to speak and be represented by counsel if the tenure award is considered in closed session.
Faculty representation
House 4196, sponsored by Rep. John F. Quinn, D-Dartmouth, would provide for faculty representation on the board of trustees of the University of Massachusetts.
Sabbatical credits
Senate 1523, sponsored by Sen. Brian Joyce, D-Milton, would allow faculty members in state colleges and universities to continue to credit time spent on sabbatical leave toward their pension benefits.
Help for retirees:
Cost-of-living hikes
House 2439, sponsored by Rep. Robert Correia, D-Fall River, would apply cost-of-living increases to retirees' full pensions.
Maternity Leave Credit for Retired Teachers
House 2597, sponsored by Rep. Rachel Kaprielian, D-Watertown, would allow pre-September 1, 2000 retirees to purchase creditable service for pre-1975 maternity leaves as set out in Chapter 114 of the Acts of 2000.
Increase minimum pension
House 2599, sponsored by Rep. Rachel Kaprielian, D-Watertown, would provide retirees with 25 years of creditable service a minimum pension of $20,000.
Labor relations:
Contract continuation
Senate 1592, sponsored by Sen. Charles Shannon, D-Winchester, would provide for the continuation of the terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement until a new contract was in effect.
Strengthening labor panel
House 2745, sponsored by Rep. Theodore Speliotis, D-Danvers, would strengthen the role of the Labor Relations Commission in resolving work stoppages.