Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Legislative Analysis
                                                                         Phone: (517) 373-8080
REQUIRE SALARY INFORMATION POSTINGS                                      http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS
                                                                         Analysis available at
House Bill 5269 as reported from committee                               http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Sponsor: Rep. Matt Koleszar
Committee: Education
Complete to 5-20-24
SUMMARY:
       House Bill 5269 would amend several sections of the Revised School Code to require a
       public school academy (PSA, or charter school) to post certain information on its website
       regarding salary. This requirement would also apply to an urban high school academy, a
       strict discipline academy, and a school of excellence. The required salary information
       would include:
           • The average salary for new teachers and the average salary for veteran teachers
               employed by a PSA, urban high school academy, strict discipline academy, or
               school of excellence or employed by an educational management organization
               (EMO) and assigned to that school. If there are fewer than five new teachers or five
               veteran teachers at the school, then the average salary for all teachers employed by
               that school or employed by an EMO and assigned to the school would have to be
               posted.
           • The average salary for support staff employed by the school or employed by an
               EMO and assigned to that school.
               New teacher would mean an individual who has held a teaching certificate for less
               than five years.
               Veteran teacher would mean an individual who has held a teaching certificate for
               five or more years.
               Educational management organization would mean an entity that enters into an
               agreement with the respective PSA type to provide comprehensive educational,
               administrative, management, or instructional services or staff to that school.
               Support staff would include at least student-facing paraprofessionals, food service
               workers, bus drivers, and literacy coaches.
       The bill would establish an annual deadline of November 1 to comply with these
       requirements.
       The bill would take effect 90 days after the date it enacted.
       MCL 380.504a et seq.
House Fiscal Agency                                                                       Page 1 of 2
BRIEF DISCUSSION:
          Current law requires certain financial data 1 to be posted and updated at least annually on the
          respective websites of Michigan’s public schools (including school districts, intermediate
          school districts, and PSAs). This includes information such as the board-approved budget,
          personnel expenditures, and current operating expenditures as well as information on current
          contracts and collective bargaining agreements.
          Because some PSA boards hire a management organization to run day-to-day operations of the
          school, certain parts of their transparency postings are less detailed than those posted by school
          districts, as the salary of teachers in a school building operated by a management organization
          is paid by that organization rather than the school itself if instructional services are part of the
          EMO’s contract. For example, a line item may be provided for the total of a PSA’s contracted
          instructional services, while a school district will have a line item as well as the collective
          bargaining agreement detailing salary and benefits for specific staff designations.
          Some consider a PSA’s posting to be inadequately detailed if it hires a management company
          to provide school staffing, and they believe that all schools should be providing equivalent
          information as part of their mandated transparency posting so that prospective teachers
          applying for positions at a PSA will be aware of a typical salary before going into the
          application process.
FISCAL IMPACT:
          The bill would have no fiscal impact on the state and create minimal costs for public school
          academies, urban high school academies, strict discipline academies, and schools of excellence
          due to the requirement to post salary information to a public website. Costs would likely be
          absorbed using existing staff time.
POSITIONS:
          The Michigan Association of School Boards indicated support for the bill. (4-23-24)
          The following entities indicated opposition to the bill (10-31-23):
             • Great Lakes Education Project Education Fund
             • Mackinac Center for Public Policy
                                                               Legislative Analyst: Josh Roesner
                                                                    Fiscal Analyst: Noel Benson
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
1
    https://www.michigan.gov/mde/-/media/Project/Websites/mde/OFM/State-Aid/Chad/Transparency-Guidance.pdf
House Fiscal Agency                                                          HB 5269 as reported   Page 2 of 2
Statutes affected: 
House Introduced Bill: 380.504
As Passed by the House: 380.504