Committee folds special-education teacher shortage study into Special Education Funding Committee

Legislators on the Legislative Management Committee debated whether to authorize a standalone interim study on special-education teacher shortages or to fold the topic into an already-authorized Special Education Funding Committee.

Senator Davidson and other members argued that the proposed study (House Bill 15-30) overlapped substantially with a required special-education funding study (House Bill 15-47), which includes nonvoting members and an expanded membership. Representative Bosch moved to incorporate the proposed special-education teacher shortage study into the Special Education Funding Committee; the motion carried.

Members discussed the appropriate scope for any work product, with several legislators urging that chairs of the assigned committee retain discretion to narrow or expand subtopics (for example, workforce and training versus assessment of reading and math proficiency among students with disabilities). John Bjornsson, Legislative Council staff, confirmed committees can combine study scopes or transfer topics between committees at the chair’s discretion.

Action taken: the committee voted to incorporate study language from House Bill 15-30 into the Special Education Funding Committee established by House Bill 15-47. The committee directed Legislative Council staff to reflect that consolidation in the interim committee assignments.