Monday, May 18, 2009
The Legislature must adjourn

What is Happening at the Capitol?
A flavor of the final days — an unprecedented play at the Capitol:

Late in the day on Thursday, Governor Pawlenty held a press conference stating that there will be no special session. He will sign the omnibus bills that have been sent to him, but if the legislature adjourns on May 18 without a balanced budget he will use the unallotment process to balance the state budget. Using this process it appears that the Governor can line-item veto funding provisions but he cannot line-item veto policy-only provisions; however, we are in uncharted territory here.

On Thursday, when the Speaker of the House referred to the Governor's "offer," he quickly responded in a letter that this was not an offer, but a "decision." Come July 1, if the state budget is not balanced, the Governor has the authority to unallot in order to balance it. On Friday, the Legislative Commission of Planning and Fiscal Policy attempted to find out what this "decision" meant for public schools. Finance Commissioner Tom Hanson, whom the Governor has sent to negotiate his deal with the Legislative Commission, and Education Commissioner Alice Seagren were repeatedly asked what this meant for schools. The answer was thoroughly unsatisfying. They told Speaker Kelliher and Senate Majority Leader Pogemiller that they were still "working on it."

If you remember, the Senate did not use accounting shifts in its proposal for the E12 Omnibus bill and the House accepted that provision. The reason stated repeatedly by the Senate was that shifts provide one-time money that needs to be paid back so are not a long-term solution. One could argue that it is not even a short-term solution since it is simply using late payments -- as one might on a credit card. And like a credit card, interest must be paid if school districts need to borrow in order to make their payroll.

Presently schools are paid 90% of state aid in the current year and 10% in the next year. This is referred to as a 90/10 shift. Shifts that have been spoken about have been 80/20 (80% in the first year and 20% the next) and 73/27. This morning in the Legislative Commission conversation, there was mention of a 64/36 shift. The Speaker asked repeatedly what that would do for schools. Another way to look at this aid payment shift is that we are balancing the state budget by using school dollars. Recent history shows that when this shift is "bought back" (the last one took five years to "buy back") it will be viewed and publicized as "new money for schools."

One thing is clear: Commissioner Hanson stated unequivocally that the Governor believes he not only can use a state aid school payment shift but can also authorize property tax recognition shifts without legislative authority. This was NOT a majority opinion.

An even more important point needs to be reiterated: Holding schools "harmless" is a misnomer and purporting to do so at the expense of the other essential services our children and families need is a disservice to the state as a whole.

Want to keep up with this as it plays out over the next days? Here are some good resources:

• Our website
• Brad's Blog (Schools for Equity in Education)
• AMSD's website (Association for Metropolitan School Districts)
• Daily updates at the Minnesota School Boards Association lobby line, 1-800-864-6722

In this issue

E12 Omnibus bill completed and passed out of both chambers!
Late Wednesday night the E12 conference committee completed their work and presented to each of their bodies the 2009 E12 Education Omnibus bill HF 2.

If you missed it, you may want to listen to MPR Midday interview with Rep. Mindy Greiling and Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, co-chairs of the E12 conference committee. This hour did an excellent job of laying out the efforts of the conference committee as well as the situation for schools.

When this session ends, look for our End-of-Session update and Vote Tracker. Until then, these are some highlights of HF 2:

[Truly disappointing in this bill is the lack of Article 9 -- the New Minnesota Miracle provision -- and the heavy dependence on one-time money, both federal stimulus money and, if the Governor uses them, payment shifts. These actions put schools is a catastrophic position two years from now.]

Funding provisions:

• Schools will receive flat funding for the next two years.
• If a district has money in a capital fund, schools may transfer up to $51 per pupil to their general fund.
• The 2% staff development set-aside is repealed for the next two school years.

Policy provisions (some have fiscal notes and therefore may be vetoed):

• Places in law the growth model to measure student progress.
• Requires the Office of Educational Accountability to report growth-based valued added data and other data annually.
• Provides students who do not pass the math GRAD the opportunity to obtain a diploma using alternative methods for the next five years.
• Creates the opportunity for districts to create site-governed schools.
• Revises a variety of special education rules to bring Minnesota closer to federal statutes and rules, including changes for training and procedures in the Behavior Intervention Rule dealing with seclusion and locked time-out.
• Provides for new regulations significantly strengthening requirements around sponsorship for charter schools.
• Establishes a reading instruction assessment for initial teacher licensure.
• Establishes a P-20 Education Partnership.
• Establishes the Minnesota Reading Corps program.
• Removes the voters' ability to file a petition to force a revocation vote on a referendum levy.

In this issue

Parents make their voices heard at the Capitol!
What an unbelievably cool event that Osseo-Maple Grove parents put on Tuesday -- the Bake Sale for Education was the talk of the Capitol.

What a terrific example of how a great idea, with a little help, can become a statewide media event! I would like to thank the parents from Osseo, Robbinsdale, Elk River, Hopkins, Centennial and Stillwater for coming down and playing a part in a wonderful event. I have a feeling that we will be doing more of these activities in the coming years!

In this issue

What Can I Do?
It's not too late to send your emails, thoughts and concerns to the Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader, and the minority leaders in both bodies. They still need to hear from us!