Senate education committee hears high-level briefing on major education laws ahead of new session

Beth King James, legislative counsel in the Office of Legislative Counsel, reviewed a set of education laws enacted in recent biennia during the Senate Education Committee meeting on Jan. 29, noting areas members commonly reference and items the committee may address this year.

King James told the committee the handout provided contains hyperlinks to each act and that her summary is a high-level overview, not an exhaustive legal or policy analysis. "The notes that I have for you on this handout are not meant to be exhaustive of every detail in each bill," she said.

The overview highlighted several recurring themes members raised as likely priorities. King James described Act 173 (2018) as a major change in special-education policy and funding: it broadened the statutory definition of students who “require additional support,” prohibited using tiered academic or behavioral interventions to delay a special-education evaluation, required the Agency of Education (AOE) to provide professional development and added three AOE positions to support special education, and shifted special-education funding from a reimbursement model to a census-based categorical aid model with full implementation staged through fiscal 2027.

She summarized other frequently cited laws: Act 1 (2019) created the Ethnic and Social Equity Standards advisory working group and led to adoption of updated state standards in June 2024; Act 2021 (Act 28, literacy) funded literacy professional development and created an advisory council on literacy; Act 72 (2021)…