2020 House Bill 5913 / Public Act 149

Authorize Remote Public School Instruction Only in 2020-21 (as passed)

Introduced in the House

May 24, 2020

Introduced by Rep. Annette Glenn (R-98)

To require all school districts to test all K to 8 students within the first 30 days of the 2020-2021 school year to measure proficiency in reading and mathematics during the coronavirus epidemic. The bill would also revise some rules on students allowed to get “remote instruction,” and create a committee to provide oversight to the state education department’s pupil accounting process.

Referred to the Committee on Education

July 21, 2020

Reported without amendment

Refer to the Committee on Ways and Means with the recommendation that the substitute (H-3) be adopted.

Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

July 22, 2020

Reported without amendment

With the recommendation that the substitute (H-3) be adopted and that the bill then pass.

Amendment offered by Rep. Thomas Albert (R-86)

To establish the bill "must not be construed as imposing mandates on nonpublic schools".

The amendment passed by voice vote

Passed in the House 55 to 49 (details)

To require all school districts to test all K to 8 students within the first 30 days of the 2020-2021 school year to measure proficiency in reading and mathematics. The bill would also revise some rules on students allowed to get “remote instruction,” and create a committee to provide oversight to the state education department’s pupil accounting process.

Received in the Senate

July 23, 2020

Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Readiness

Aug. 15, 2020

Amendment offered by Sen. Erika Geiss (D-6)

To strip out a provision requiring school districts to "re-confirm" to state officials every 30 days during the 2020-21 school year how they are providing non-classroom instruction.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-7)

To eliminate a proposed requirement that once during the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year school districts must administer a test to all K-8 students assessing their progress on reading and math, and do so once again before the end of the school year.

The amendment failed 17 to 21 (details)

Amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-18)

To waive requirements that school districts administer learning progress assessment tests to students in the 2020-21 school year.

The amendment failed 17 to 21 (details)

Amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-18)

To allocate state aid to school districts in the 2020-21 school as if they enrolled the same number of students as they did in 2019-20 before the coronavirus, even though their plans to provide little or no in-person instruction are likely to cause parents to seek alternatives.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-1)

To not require school districts to ensure that at least 75% of the students who are enrolled for non-classroom instruction get at least one “two-way interaction” with his or her teacher per week, and instead require this once a month. The "interactions" could be an email, phone call or text message, and would not have to be at the same time ("synchronous").

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-13)

To require school districts to meet "metrics" produced by local public health departments on whether their coronavirus epidemic protections for students and school personnel are "sufficient".

The amendment failed by voice vote

Passed in the Senate 23 to 15 (details)

To only require school districts to provide instruction “…online, digitally, by other remote means, in a synchronous or asynchronous format" in the 2020-21 school year.<br> To accommodate this the bill would waive the requirement that at least 75% of the students enrolled in a district must be present for the district to get state aid on any given day. Instead, it appears that with some exceptions and ambiguities, schools would get funding if they “ensure” that at least 75% of the students who are enrolled for non-classroom instruction get at least one “two-way interaction” per month with one of his or her teachers, which could be an email, phone call or text message, or an actual face-to-face conversation. For purposes of tracking and public reporting, the standard is two teacher contacts per week.<br> Also, to require school districts to administer a test during the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year to all K-8 students that assesses their progress on reading and math, and do so once again before the end of the school year.

Received in the House

Aug. 17, 2020

Amendment offered by Rep. Padma Kuppa (D-41)

To authorize spending $1.6 million on grants to deliver a certain teacher professional development regime specified in the amendment that among other things emphasizes "social justice" and "anti-racism practices".

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Rep. Nate Shannon (D-25)

To give Intermediate School Districts an additional $1.2 million for a certain program aimed at developmentally disabled children age three and under.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-19)

To strip out a provision that requires school districts to administer a test during the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year to all K-8 students that assesses their progress on reading and math, and do so once again before the end of the school year.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (D-8)

To eliminate a requirement that school districts reconfirm on a monthly basis that they are executing their remote instruction plans as submitted to state officials.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Rep. Robert Wittenberg (D-27)

To give school districts the same amount of state aid in the 2020-21 school year as they received in the year before the coronavirus epidemic, when instruction was in-person and the number of students enrolled was likely higher than the numbers expected during the epidemic.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-20)

To strip out a provision that requires school districts to administer a test during the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year to all K-8 students that assesses their progress on reading and math, and do so once again before the end of the school year.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Amendment offered by Rep. Leslie Love (D-10)

To only require school districts to post their remote instruction "interaction rates" with individual students once per quarter during the epidemic rather than once a month.

The amendment failed by voice vote

Passed in the House 73 to 33 (details)

To only require school districts to provide instruction “…online, digitally, by other remote means, in a synchronous or asynchronous format" in the 2020-21 school year.<br> To accommodate this the bill would waive the requirement that at least 75% of the students enrolled in a district must be present for the district to get state aid on any given day. Instead, it appears that with some exceptions and ambiguities, schools would get funding if they “ensure” that at least 75% of the students who are enrolled for non-classroom instruction get at least one “two-way interaction” per month with one of his or her teachers, which could be an email, phone call or text message, or an actual face-to-face conversation. For purposes of tracking and public reporting, the standard is two teacher contacts per week.<br> Also, to require school districts to administer a test during the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year to all K-8 students that assesses their progress on reading and math, and do so once again before the end of the school year.

Signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Aug. 20, 2020