Video: Delegate Kaiser public comment on 3rd version of HB 596

The anatomy of a bill.
The video below is of the March 8, 2012, House Ways and Means Committee Public Hearing on House Bill 596. The public hearing begins with Delegate Anne Kaiser explaining her 3rd version of this bill since the bill was first introduced just 32 days prior. 
For all blog posts on HB 596, please click here.

Minute index of public hearing video: 
0:50 Delegate Anne Kaiser submitted written public comment
2:00 Kaiser: "finding a little bit of relief on the professionals side"
2:50 Kaiser: "not doing bill that way, we are doing bill it this way"..."what I have to tell you is that we are even going another route, once again"..."I apologize for that"...
4:00 Kaiser:  "the letter you would have received from me a few weeks ago" (letter about amending bill to change window for reports around holidays)
4:45 Kaiser: "I've since learned we can't do that in terms of the federal law"...
5:05 Kaiser: ..."The changes that I am recommending would only impact the side of the school professional...no impact on parents...process smoother for those professionals..."
8:50 Kaiser:  "...parents always have the right with IEP meetings to cancel and reschedule..."  " a parent might say... "that's [speech therapist report] coming two days later?  I can wait. That's fine. I'm still fine and ready for the meeting""...
9:15  Kaiser: "problems with IEP process in general"..."incredible under staffing of [staff] in schools"...
10:20  Kaiser:  "...hope that this finds a balance in making life easier for our school professionals without adding any added burden to our parents..."
Questions from Delegates for Delegate Kaiser. [Good discussion - worth listening]
16:25 Delegate Glass: "...parents want more time not less time"
19:00 Joshua Rubin, teacher in MCPS
24:50  Amy Maloney, Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) [5 day rule and difficulties - 2,000 e-mails]
26:25  [teacher]
30:35  Bill Fluke, Maryland School Psychologists Association "...good idea to go back from 5 business to 5 calendar..."
35:39  Lauren Kallins, Maryland Disability Law Center

The 22 Delegates

On Saturday, March 24, 2012, an amendment was posted on the Maryland General Assembly web page for a bill that had been previously introduced.  The bill was HB 596.  The amendment was in fact a new proposal to change existing law but using the original bill number. 

A public hearing had already been held on the original bill as written. There is no public hearing scheduled for the new version of Bill 596. 


The new version of Bill 596 was introduced and voted on at a House Ways and Means Committee meeting without ever having been released to the public.  


What is fascinating about this is that when HB 596 was introduced in its original version, almost 600 citizens from across the state of Maryland signed a Petition opposing the changes.  Delegates in Annapolis knew that at a minimum there were almost 600 people that cared about potential changes to this law. 


Yet, when the Ways and Means Committee met and voted on March 23rd, none of the 22 Delegates listed on the voting record below apparently felt the need to release the new version of the Bill to the public prior to their vote.  


If you click on the Fiscal and Policy Note for this bill, you will see that even that information relates to the original version of the bill and not the new version. A member of the public reading the HB 596 webpage would be justifiably confused.  


And HB 596 isn't through the entire legislature yet.  What other changes are in store for this Bill as it zips through the legislature before this year's legislative session ends on April 9th?  


Do citizens have the right to know what legislators in Annapolis are voting on in advance, or should we all just wait and be surprised?

Delegates who voted without consulting parents/constiuents

Special Ed. Parents Duped by Delegates

On February 27, 2012 we reported on a letter that had been sent by Delegate Anne Kaiser to parents and activists who opposed House Bill (HB) 596.  Delegate Kaiser's HB 596 would shorten the amount of time parents would have to review documents prior to a school meeting on special educational services.


After over 500 parents and activists across the state of Maryland signed a Petition in opposition to HB 596, here is what Delegate Kaiser wrote in a Feb. 27th letter:

"I am amending my own legislation to retain the 5 business day standard, but to disallow IEP meetings in the first 3 days following a long holiday break."

But that didn't happen.
The proposed changes to HB 596 were not made public prior to the March 8th public hearing. 
And so, on March 8, 2012 a public hearing was held on HB 596 as written.
  
At the March 8th public hearing the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA - the state teacher's union) gave public comment in support of HB 596 as originally proposed.  See PDF below.
Further, MSEA reported to their members in their March 9th newsletter: 

Five-Day Rule Update The House Ways and Means committee heard House Bill 596, legislation to address the five-day rule that governs the timeline considerations of delivering materials to parents in advance of IEP meetings.  MSEA testified in support of the legislation and to amendments offered by the bill sponsor, Delegate Anne Kaiser.  The Kaiser amendments intend to provide flexibility in how parents will receive the documents in advance of the meeting, ensure that the word “accessible” is defined, and define what the “extenuating circumstances” provision of the current law is meant to allow.
MSEA will continue to work with Delegate Kaiser to bring common sense to the law and ensure balance is achieved between parents’ needs and educators’ workloads. Stay tuned and help us push for these important changes by emailing your legislators and asking them to fix the five-day rule.

Parents?  Of course, they didn't show up at the March 8th public hearing because they had been told that HB 596 was not going forward as originally written.  Parents were told that the 5 business day rule on document production was not being altered.

Cool move to keep parents from showing up at a public hearing, while allowing the union representatives to proceed with their advocacy unopposed.  The legislative session history will show that this legislation had support at the public hearing, but not that it had substantial opposition.  


HB 596 Public Comment

Special Education Community Rallies!! Amendment to be removed.

As we have been reporting on this blog, an amendment to existing law governing when parents are provided copies of documents prior to their child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting had been proposed in the legislature by Delegate Anne Kaiser and 11 co-sponsors.  
A Petition was started and as of today that Petition had over 550 signatures from parents, guardians and citizens from all over the state of Maryland that opposed this legislation.
Late today, the legislation's lead sponsor, Delegate Anne Kaiser issued the statement below.  According to Delegate Kaiser's letter, the proposed amendment changing the word "business" to "calendar" will be removed from proposed legislation.
Delegate Kaiser statement

Bd. of Ed. Candidate Signs Petition

Montgomery County Board of Education candidate Saqib Ali joins the list of those that have signed the online Petition to OPPOSE HB 596. 


This is an open invitation to all Montgomery County Board of Education candidates.  We would like to know your position on this legislation.  We will keep track of the candidate positions and post them on this blog.


To date this bill does not have any known supporters except the 12 Delegates that have sponsored the legislation. We'd like to hear from the supporters to understand the rationale for this proposed legislation.


E-mail us at contact AT parentscoalitionmc.com

Howard Co. Bd Member Cynthia Vaillancourt Stands Up for Children

Howard County Board of Education member Cynthia Vaillancourt joins the list of elected officials that have signed the online Petition to OPPOSE HB 596. 

Ms. Vaillancourt is also on the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) committee that will be meeting on Monday, Feb. 27th and discussing what positions to take on pending legislation.   

Patricia O'Neill and Shirley Brandman are our local Board members that are also on this committee.  What position will Ms. O'Neill and Ms. Brandman take on this legislation?

Gaithersburg City Council member Cathy C. Drzyzgula Stands Up for Children

As we reported earlier this week, 9 Maryland State Delegates have sponsored state-wide legislation to shorten the amount of time parents have to review reports prior to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting.  IEP meetings are held for students in need of special education programs and services.

On Monday February 20, 2012, an online Petition was posted by a parent that OPPOSED this legislation.  As of today, that Petition has over 500 signatures from all over the State of Maryland.


Gaithersburg City Council member Cathy C. Drzyzgula joins the list of those signing the online Petition in OPPOSITION to HB 596.

If you haven't signed, here's the link to the Petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-md-state-house-oppose-house-bill-596