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Minutes for HB2411 - Committee on K-12 Education Budget
Short Title
Authorizing local boards of eduction to choose which professional employees' organization to recognize as the exclusive bargaining unit for negotiations conducted under the professional negotiations act.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 17, 2021
Chair Williams opened the hearing on HB2411.
Nick Myers from the revisers office gave provided a brief overview of HB2411 to the committee.(Attachment 2)
Discussion ensued
Proponent Oral Testimony:
Representative Adam Thomas provided testimony to the committee stating that HB2411 would allow any group that can show membership the chance to be at the negotiating table creating competition among groups that do not simply comply with what the union says is in their best interest. When more than one group requests to be the negotiating party it then becomes the responsibility of the school board to decide who they negotiate with.(Attachment 3)
Vigorous discussion ensued.
Opponent Oral Testimony
Mark Tallman, Associate Executive Director for KASB, provided testimony to the committee stating that this bill would amend the professional negotiations act by allowing school boards to determine which teacher organization to recognize as the exclusive bargaining unit. In most cases, KASB supports more local flexibility for local school boards to carry out their constitutional responsibility to “maintain, develop and operate” public schools. In this case, however, we are guided by action of the KASB Delegate Assembly, which has adopted the following statement: “KASB supports the current professional negotiations act as amended by the 2015 Legislature.” (Attachment 4)
Discussion ensued.
Kimberly Vogelsberg, Kansas NEA Staff Attorney, provided testimony to the committee stating that HB2411 strips this democratic process from the Professional Negotiations Act and removes the important check and balance. HB2411 does not allow professional employees to elect their own exclusive representative. Instead, the board of education hand-selects the exclusive bargaining representative. If teachers and other professional employees in the bargaining unit are unhappy with this choice, HB2411 provides no remedy for the democratic choice of the bargaining unit to override the discretion of the board. If HB2411 is passed, a bargaining unit of 100 educators could be represented by a person or organization that has the support of only one educator. And, that board-selected representative has no incentive to work to gain the approval of the rest of the unit. (Attachment 5)
Discussion ensued.
Opponent Written Testimony:
Lauri DeNooy, MBA Kansas PTA President,(Attachment 6)
Sarah LaFrenz, President, AFT Kansas,(Attachment 7)
Judith Deedy, Executive Director Game on for Kansas School,(Attachment 8)
