Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Standards topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State Board asks legislature to restore standards‑review funding as in‑person process faces cuts
Summary
State Board of Education leaders told the Senate Education Committee their standards‑review process requires in‑person work and that a requested inflationary supplement of $121,016 was not funded; without the money the board plans to shift to a reduced virtual format and lower stipends.
The State Board of Education told the Senate Education Committee it needs additional funding to preserve in‑person instructional-standards review work that the board says is central to textbook, assessment and curriculum alignment.
"We estimate that over a 2 year period ... it costs about 250,000," Nathan James, the board's deputy executive director, said while reviewing budget figures. He said the board requested a recurring $125,000 per year to cover heavier review years after a one‑time ask of $65,000.
Board executive director Sarah Morrison and deputy Michael Durlan outlined the standards review cycle and public comment process, saying the board staggers subject reviews on an eight‑year cycle and involves educator teams and a Standards Recommendation Committee. Morrison said social studies generated nearly 100,000 comments in a public feedback window and that in‑person collaboration is important to maintain the "rigor and robustness" of the process.
When asked about the missing supplemental, Durlan said the board would be forced to shift to a mostly virtual model if the appropriations are not restored: sessions would be shorter and spread across more days, stipends would be cut and some hands‑on work would be reduced. "Shifting to virtual ... will pose some challenges, but we will make it work if we absolutely have to," he said.
The chair offered to circulate a letter to the Finance Committee asking that the unfunded portion of the standards review request be restored; the committee voted to move the State Board budget to Finance with a letter attached (clerk reported 7 ayes). The board asked the committee to consider the recurring $125,000 per year figure to avoid repeatedly cutting the in‑person components of the review.
