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SPONSOR: |
Begaye |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
607/aHEC |
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Increase Paraprofessionals Income |
SB |
|
||||
|
ANALYST: |
L. Baca |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
$500.0 |
|
|
Recurring |
GF |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates
to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
Responses
Received From
State
Department of Education (SDE)
Commission
on Higher Education (CHE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of HEC Amendments
The amendments adopted by the House Education
Committee change the term “paraprofessionals” to “educational assistants”, and
direct the appropriation to the State Equalization Guarantee instead of to the
State Department of Education.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
House Bill 607
appropriates $500.0 from the general fund to the State Department of Education
to increase salaries of paraprofessional educational assistants statewide.
Significant
Issues
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires
that EAs earn an associates degree by the 2006-2007 school year. Any increase awarded EAs can be used to help
defray the cost of meeting the NCLB requirements.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of
$500.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any
unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2004
shall revert to the general fund.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
SDE would have to
ascertain the number of EAs in the state that qualify under the law in order to
satisfy the provisions of the bill (law).
The SDE analysis indicates this would have some administrative impact on
the SDE.
CONFLICTAND RELATIONSHIP
HB 703 conflicts with
HB 37. HB 37 appropriates an 8% increase
for all school employees.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
With 50% or more of currently employed EAs with
federal funds, the immediate and long-term consequences of this bill are
indeterminate but could be problematic, especially if state funds are used to
increase salaries for federally funded EAs.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1.
Would it be better to mandate that school
districts develop pay differential schedules for all EAs?
2.
May federal funds be used to help
federally funded EAs meet the training requirements of NCLB?