Committee advances several education bills; AED and scholarship measures pass, late 'perils of communism' curriculum fails for lack of second

The Senate Education Committee moved a group of largely procedural and technical education bills forward during its session.

Among items the panel approved were a clarification to ensure open-enrollment public charter schools are eligible for a teacher-pay fund, HB 15 38 (professional-development flexibility), HB 11 92 (transparency and data reporting for education cooperatives), a rules request asking agencies to put portable AEDs at athletic events and a targeted scholarship program for neuropsychological testing training funded from the psychology board surplus (HB 17 72). Committee motions were typically recorded as 'do pass' and were passed on voice votes in committee.

A late-filed item, HB 17 36, would have required the State Board of Education to develop age-appropriate curricula on the 'perils of communism and autocratic governments' (grades 7–12) and included a passage stating such governments "resulted in the murder of approximately 100,000,000 of its own citizens." The motion for that bill failed for lack of a second.

Votes at a glance (committee record): HB 16 42 — do pass; HB 17 95/charter clarification — do pass; HB 15 38 — do pass; HB 15 39 — do pass (see separate article); HB 16 09 — do pass (see separate article); HB 11 92 — do pass; HB 16 43 (AEDs at sporting events) — do pass; HB 17 72 (psychology scholarship) — do pass; HB 17 36 (perils of communism curriculum) — motion failed for lack of a second.