REPEAL OF VARIOUS EDUCATION ACTS                        S.B. 756, 757, 759-762, 764, & 767:

                                                                                              ANALYSIS AS ENACTED

 

 

 

 

 

Senate Bills 756, 757, 759-762, 764, and 767 (as enacted)           PUBLIC ACT 537-544 of 2016

Sponsor:  Senator Darwin L. Booher (S.B. 756 & 757)

               Senator Jim Stamas (S.B. 759 & 760)

               Senator Ken Horn (S.B. 761)

               Senator Peter MacGregor (S.B. 762)

               Senator Mike Shirkey (S.B. 764)

               Senator Margaret O'Brien (S.B. 767)

Senate Committee:  Education

House Committee:  Education

 

Date Completed:  1-17-17

 


RATIONALE

 

State and Federal law imposes various reporting and other requirements on school districts. Reportedly, school administrators must submit hundreds of reports each school year. A number of these requirements were said to be redundant or obsolete, or had otherwise been supplanted by more recently enacted State or Federal mandates. Some suggested that simplification of the State's education laws and elimination of obsolete statutes would make it easier for school administrators to comply with current law. Accordingly, it was recommended that many of these obsolete statutes be repealed.

 

CONTENT

 

Senate Bills 756, 757, 759 through 762, 764, and 767 repeal various public acts related to education issues.

 

Senate Bill 756 repeals Public Act 26 of 1982, which provided for emergency financial assistance for certain school districts and created an emergency loan revolving fund.

 

Senate Bill 757 repealed Public Act 198 of 1962, which authorized the State Board of Control for Vocational Education to accept Federal money to establish a program to alleviate persistent unemployment and underemployment.

 

Senate Bill 759 repeals Public Act 205 of 1931, which required high schools, county normal schools, and colleges to teach courses in civics, political science, government, or public administration, and prohibited those schools from granting a diploma or baccalaureate degree to students who had not completed those courses.

 

Senate Bill 760 repeals Public Act 156 of 1966, which made appropriations for State scholarships for students in the field of special education.

 

Senate Bill 761 repeals the Education for the Gifted and/or Academically Talented Act.

 

Senate Bill 762 repeals Public Act 238 of 1964, which authorized the State and other entities to maintain demonstration educational and work experience programs.

 

Senate Bill 764 repealed Public Act 149 of 1919, which accepted the requirements and benefits of the Federal Smith-Hughes Act (which related to appropriations made by the Federal government to the states for the support of instruction in vocational trades).

 

Senate Bill 767 repealed Public Act 44 of 1964, which authorized the State Board of Control for Vocational Education to accept Federal money under the Vocational Education Act.

 

Senate Bills 757, 764, and 767 took effect on January 9, 2017.   The remaining bills will take effect on April 9, 2017.

 

MCL 388.811-388.829 (S.B. 756)                                                                                

       395.71-395.73 (S.B. 757)

       388.372 (S.B. 759)

       388.1051-388.1055 (S.B. 760)

       388.1091-388.1094 (S.B. 761)

       395. 171-395.175 (S.B. 762)

       395.1-395.10 (S.B. 764)

       395.31-395.34 (S.B. 767)

 

ARGUMENTS

 

(Please note:  The arguments contained in this analysis originate from sources outside the Senate Fiscal Agency.  The Senate Fiscal Agency neither supports nor opposes legislation.)

 

Supporting Argument

School administrators are required to submit hundreds of reports to State and Federal educational agencies throughout the school year. Compiling these reports is tedious, and the information provided in them is often obsolete by the time they are received. Also, the reporting requirements are costly in terms of staff time and resources that could be directed toward classroom instruction. School officials need to monitor and comply with numerous mandates located throughout the Michigan Complied Laws (in addition to requirements found in the Revised School Code). The bills eliminate a number of these laws and reporting requirements, making it easier to understand the information that is required to be submitted, eliminating unnecessary paperwork, and reducing the diversion of resources. The bills also remove outdated statutes from the body of law that administrators must monitor.

 

Legislative Analyst:  Jeff Mann

 

FISCAL IMPACT

 

Senate Bill 756

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because Public Act 26 of 1982 has not been in effect since 1994.

 

Senate Bill 757

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because the State is no longer receiving Federal funds under the "Area Redevelopment Act".

 

Senate Bill 759

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because the State has assigned new social study graduation standards.

 

Senate Bill 760

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because the State has established new teaching requirements for special education.


 

Senate Bill 761

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because the Commission on Education for the Gifted and/or Academically Talented submitted recommendations and evaluations to the State in 1975.

 

Senate Bill 762

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because entrepreneurship programs were previously moved to the Talent Investment Agency.

 

Senate Bill 764

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because vocational education was previously moved to the Talent Investment Agency.

 

Senate Bill 767

 

The bill will have no impact on State or local government, because the State is no longer receiving Federal funds under the "Vocational Education Act of 1963".

 

                                                                                        Fiscal Analyst:  Cory Savino

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.