Over the last two years, starting even before the Supreme Court’s decision regarding affirmative action in June 2023, there has been a noticeable uptick in bills introduced in state legislatures restricting inclusion, equity,...more
Effective January 1, 2024, a new Texas law prohibits public institutions of higher education from, among other things, establishing or maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices or hiring or assigning...more
Win in Court doesn’t Assure More Pennsylvania School Funding - “Pennsylvania is the latest state where the public school funding system was found to be unconstitutional, but the experience in other states suggests there’s...more
In our last post, I summarized part of the General Assembly’s Education Committee’s final flurry of approved bills advancing bills out of committee. In addition to the bills that we have already summarized, here is a brief...more
The House and Senate largely avoided each other on Valentine’s Day, with the Senate quickly gaveling in and taking care of business this morning before the House rolled in for an afternoon convening. It’s unclear whether the...more
Last week, Governor Mike DeWine signed the $74 billion state operating budget, which builds on the Governor’s vision for the future. The two-year spending bill (HB 110), includes nearly $162 billion in all funds...more
In addition to bills described in our last post, the General Assembly’s Education Committee approved and advanced out of committee the following funding-related and “omnibus” bills, including bills reaffirming the Committee’s...more
Illinois’ Democratic legislature recently passed, and its progressive Democratic Governor, J.B. Pritzker, recently signed into law, the Student Investment Account Act, which establishes a Student Investment Account to be...more
Lawmakers returned from the Easter/Passover Break on Tuesday and immediately got to work moving omnibus finance bills off the House and Senate floor and into conference committees. Several omnibus bills were passed off the...more
Federal Updates - Secretary DeVos testified before the House Education and Labor Committee and answered questions on the president’s FY20 budget request, arming teachers, school choice, and other issues. ...more
On June 25, 2018, the Kansas Supreme Court held that the legislature's efforts to increase school funding still failed to provide an adequate education for students in Gannon v. State of Kansas, et al., No. 113,267 (2018)....more
Last week, the House of Representatives Republican majority announced their budget targets for the 2018 legislative session. In February the Minnesota Management and Budget projected the state to have a $329 million surplus. ...more
ARIZONA - Chandler, Arizona - In August and September reports came to light of victims of alleged hazing and sexual assault at Hamilton High School. The reported incidents were shocking. Assaults occurred between...more
As reported in an earlier alert, the State’s new school funding bill, Senate Bill 1947 (Public Act 100-0465), provides new mandate relief. School districts have been eligible to petition the General Assembly for waivers from...more
The issue of school funding reform is being addressed on many fronts this year. In Springfield, proponents of funding reform and the evidence based model continue their efforts at legislative change. Meanwhile, school...more
Earlier this month, the Kansas Supreme Court issued an opinion in Gannon v. Kansas holding that the state’s current system of funding public education was inadequate under the state's constitution. The Court relied primarily...more
Throughout the course of his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and also eliminate the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy (DACA) – which allows some...more
On September 19, 2016, an Albany, New York trial court in Maisto v. New York rejected plaintiffs’ claims that the state was constitutionally underfunding eight small-city school districts. Stinson Leonard Street attorneys...more