Sen. Burr Introduces Bill to Increase Employment of Military Spouses

Tax incentive encourages greater opportunity for employers, employees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced the Military Spouse Employment Act, legislation that will encourage employers to hire qualified military spouses by expanding the Workforce Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include military families.

“Military spouses are among our nation’s most valuable assets,” Senator Burr said. “These men and women are already sacrificing for our country, and we can’t let the hard facts of military life like relocations get in the way of their career and financial support for their families. By encouraging employers to hire military spouses, this tax incentive results in big returns with just a small investment.”

The Senator introduced this bill in light of recent studies that show that military spouses traditionally earn less income and have higher unemployment rates than their civilian counterparts due to frequent relocations. Using the WOTC would allow an employer to claim a tax credit of 40% of the first $6,000 in wages paid during the worker's first year of employment.

This legislation has the support of the Military Coalition, an alliance representing 5.5 million members in 35 organizations including AMVETS, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Military Officers Association of America. Representative John Carter (R-TX) introduced the House version of the bill (H.R. 4764) in March 2010.

Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Introduction of Legislation to Support Student Civil Rights

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the introduction of SB 955, legislation authored by Senator Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) that would provide local school districts the flexibility to ensure that all California students have access to the high-quality teachers and education they deserve. The Governor also announced his support for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)/Public Council lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) teacher layoff practices that are disproportionally hurting low-income and minority schools; a problem this legislation would help solve.

“It is unacceptable that school districts cannot determine their staffing based on the needs of students, and that is exactly why I am introducing this legislation and supporting the ACLU lawsuit. SB 955 will help ensure that classrooms are filled with effective teachers by giving school districts the flexibility to make staffing decisions based on ability, not just seniority,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I call on the legislators, both Democrat and Republican, to join me in standing up for the civil rights of all California students by supporting this important legislation.”

Decades of research shows that teacher effectiveness is the single most important school-based factor determining student achievement. However, current state law does not provide the flexibility to local school districts to consider anything but seniority in determining teacher layoffs. The effectiveness and excellence of teachers, as well as the needs of schools to keep great teachers, are not allowed to be considered. SB 955 will ensure that the most effective teachers can stay in the classroom by providing significant new program flexibilities for school districts to manage their staffing and resources based on student needs including:

* Seniority Provisions: This would allow schools to layoff, assign, reassign, transfer and rehire teachers and administrators based on effectiveness and subject matter needs, without regard to seniority.
* Flexible Layoff Notification Period Provisions: This would allow schools until the end of the school year to notify teachers of potential layoffs, meaning schools can wait to make staffing decisions until their budgets are finalized – avoiding unfair disruptions to students, teachers and families.
* Streamlined Dismissal Process Provisions: This would allow districts to limit the Commission on Professional Competence (CPC) to only an Administrative Law Judge, and eliminate the binding authority of the current CPC, giving Local Education Agency governing boards final decision-making authority on teacher dismissals. Specifically, this proposal would:
o Eliminate the current prohibition on presentation of evidence to the CPC related to matters that occurred more than four years prior to the filing of the notice of teacher dismissal.
o Eliminate the requirement that teachers placed on administrative leave be paid until formally charged.
* Personnel Management Flexibility Provisions: This would allow schools to offer substitute service to teachers on the basis of subject matter needs, without regard to seniority, and eliminate provisions requiring schools to pay substitutes the former rate paid to them when they were permanently employed.

Governor Schwarzenegger has made improving California’s education system a top priority of his Administration. Most recently, on January 7, 2010, he signed historic education reform legislation to empower parents to have a true voice in making choices for their children, embrace accountability and to transform under-performing schools. To read more about the Governor’s education reform proposals, click here for PDF.

The Governor discussed his support for the ACLU/Public Council lawsuit at Edwin Markham Middle School in Watts. The school serves higher than average percentages of low-income students, students of color and English learners, and has been traditionally plagued by high levels of teacher turnover. Last year, Markham gave layoff notices to half of its teaching staff as a result of current state law that only considers seniority in determining teacher layoffs. This year, Markham expects to layoff even more educators – further harming students access to quality education.

04/20/2010 GAAS:240:10 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE