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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Nava

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/04/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Strengthening Quality in Schools Initiative

SB 326

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$810.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 326 appropriates $810.0 from the general fund to the Public Education Department

(PED) to the Strengthening Quality in Schools (SQS) initiative to continue the SQS training.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $810.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to the general

fund.

According to PED,

•

It is anticipated that the PED will need to designate at least .25 of one FTE (Education

Administrator-A) in the Priority Schools Bureau to oversee, monitor and evaluate the

work of SQS as it provides assistance to designated schools in need of improvement.

•

Overall, the salary and benefits for one FTE (Educational Administrator-A) from July

2009 through June 2010 ($25.50 x 2000 hrs, plus 30% benefits = $66,300) is $66.3.

Dividing that total by .25, the PED estimates a fiscal impact of oversight for this

allocation will be $16.6.

Senate bill 326 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to PED, through a Joint Powers Agreement with the Gallup Independent Schools, the

district is the fiscal agent for SQS. The district in FY 08 received $540,000 from the PED’s

Teacher Professional Development Fund for SQS, for Schools in Need of Improvement (SINOI).

Funding supported the following:

•

Reports indicating gains in the schools served.

•

Focused attention on schools that are in some sort of school improvement status.

•

Focus on the criteria in the PED’s Education Plan for Student Success (EPSS) trainings.

The $810.0 appropriation will allow SQS to provide direct services to districts through coaching

and staff development, as well as some public workshops, in order to build district capacity.

However, SQS would probably need a fiscal agent in order to receive these funds.

Overall, SQS is a viable service provided to schools in improvement and collaborates well with

the PED. SQS has a focus on “what works" and provides focused coaching and staff

development to identified schools. Service providers like SQS are needed as more schools and

districts come into the ranks of school improvement. Consistent funding sources like SQS will be

an asset for long-range planning.

The PED’s Priority Schools Bureau has neither the staff nor resources to provide services to

School Improvement I and School Improvement II schools currently, so this is a needed service.

Without these kinds of partners, these schools and districts would not be served.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

•

Improvement of percent of Adequate Yearly Progress designations publicly reported.

•

Improvement of percent of students who achieve proficiency in Reading, Language Arts,

and Math.

•

Increased standards-based alignment of educational planning based on data analysis

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

This is related to SB 328, which request funding for another education associate, Re: Learning.

This also relates to the Executive recommendation of $2,500.0 for the Teacher Professional

Development Fund.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The PED’s goal is to bring into alignment the systemic approach of ensuring all the education

associates are collaborating before providing services. Services should be aligned to the data and

be included in the EPSS process.

The PED has met with all the education associates and discussed its goal to focus expertise based

on data.

Utilizing research-based instructional strategies and embedded training, the PED can assess the

impact of the work of SQS.

Senate bill 326 – Page

3

ALTERNATIVES

If it is the desire of the Legislature that the education associates service all schools, perhaps the

services could be 75% in SINOI schools and 25% in the other schools.

PME/mt