Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the following:

SUMMARY

This amendment is one of the minority reports of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. The amendment strikes and replaces the concept draft to require that, for fiscal year 2008-09 and each fiscal year thereafter, the regional adjustment to the salary and benefits costs of teachers and other school personnel that is based on labor market areas in the State must be further adjusted by the Commissioner of Education. The commissioner must annually establish a regional adjustment to teacher salary and benefit costs that decreases the adjustment for school administrative units whose labor market area teacher salary cost adjustment is computed to be greater than 1.0 and increases the adjustment for school administrative units whose labor market area teacher salary cost adjustment is computed to be less than 1.0. The commissioner must accomplish this adjustment in a manner that results in no net fiscal impact to the General Fund appropriations for general purpose aid for local schools due solely to the adjustments made to teacher salary and benefit costs pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15682.