Sen. Deery Shares Update

I serve on five committees, but my busiest is always the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development.

On one hand, that’s to be expected because 56% of the budget is dedicated to K-12 and higher education. On the other hand, even well-intentioned education laws can become unnecessary or miss their mark.

That’s why I and other lawmakers have been combing through every page of our K-12 and higher ed laws in search of unnecessary education regulations and unfunded mandates that might waste money or place a harmful burden on our schools and universities.

Last year, through House Enrolled Act 1002, we repealed more than 70 provisions equal to 35,000 words of code.

This year, House Bill 1004 could remove another 19,000 words. In addition, I filed Senate Bill 204, which would eliminate nearly a dozen duplicative reports or other burdensome regulations that can require universities to direct more tax and tuition dollars to administration rather than education. 

These reductions will give educators more flexibility and free up financial resources and staff time. They also help the General Assembly to communicate to educators important priorities like using evidence-based practices when teaching reading.

This combination seems to be working. Through the great work of our teachers combined with the General Assembly’s focus on the essentials, our state is reaching new education highs. For example, last year our fourth graders climbed from the 19th best readers in the country to the sixth best. 

To be sure, a number of new provisions are moving through the General Assembly, including:

• My bill to give parents more control over school-issued devices when they are in the home; 
• My bill to modernize the licensing process so that it’s easier for talented people to obtain the training and certification necessary to enter the classroom;
• A bill to further limit student use of cellphones in schools; and
• A bill making it easier for community organizations like the Scouts to be active in our schools.

While I don’t always love new mandates, I take solace knowing that these are offset by reductions and that our efforts to streamline are ongoing. If anything new ends up not adding the value we expect, I will be just as willing to remove these new provisions as I was to remove the old ones. 

Do you have thoughts on ways we can deregulate education? Or, is there an area that you think should have more oversight? I welcome your thoughts.