Monday, February 9, 11 am - Noon, St. Paul
Discussion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Town Hall Forum with Congresswoman Betty McCollum

February 19 - 20, On the Road Hearings
Joint Senate & House Finance/Ways and Means committee hearings in Greater Minnesota
Hearings tentatively scheduled in: Little Falls, Alexandria, Worthington, Marshall,
Winona, Albert Lea, Duluth, Virginia, Brainerd, Bemidji

February 23 - 25
Joint Senate & House Finance/Ways and Means committee hearings in the Twin Cities area
(stay tuned for details)

Monday, March 16, St. Paul
Parents United's Annual Parent Leadership Summit
Save the date - more details soon!

A complete listing of Events is always available at our website.

In this issue

What is Happening at the Capitol?
It has been a very interesting week at the Capitol. Three different committees heard the QComp Evaluation report from the Office of The Legislative Auditor (OLA).

The key findings of the OLA report are:

• QComp's effect on student achievement cannot be adequately measured using existing data.
• The Minnesota Department of Education's (MDE) application review process has several weaknesses, e.g. QComp applicants have been held to different standards.
• Not all QComp participants are subject to regular oversight by the MDE.

The OLA's Evaluation of QComp drew a great deal of conversation around the question, "Does QComp increase student achievement?" The report states that with existing data that cannot be measured. The Legislative Auditor also responded that arriving at that answer will always be a tough social science research question, since it is difficult to disentangle the effects of a QComp program on student performance from all the other variables.

The Legislative Auditor did note that this administration believes that it is a settled point of research that a competent teacher is the most important component for increased student achievement and therefore seeks components in QComp that raise the level of competency of teachers.

Several legislators in both bodies questioned the appropriateness of expanding a program whose "effects on student achievement cannot be adequately measured using existing data," rather than making an investment in programs where the data for increasing student achievement is more conclusive, citing examples of early childhood or reading interventions.

A teacher representing Richfield teachers, who have yet to enter the QComp program, did a very nice job outlining their thoughts; his testimony is representative.

In this issue

Racial disparites
House Education Policy held a hearing on racial disparities in Minnesota, looking deeply into the data surrounding this issue. Chair Mariani and his committee are attempting to gain a great deal of information from research. The discussions have been rich and interesting. The Minnesota Minority Education Partnership presented research on the disparities that exist here in Minnesota both in graduation rates and academic achievement, and the Network for the Development of Children of African Descent began expanding on the unique needs for our children.

Arts High Schools at the Perpich Center
The House K12 Finance Division took testimony on the Governor's proposal to transition the Arts High School at the Perpich Center for Arts Education to charter school status as a cost-saving measure. Those who testified spoke about the unique nature of the program, which serves the entire state and is a national model for arts education. It began in the 1980s as an initiative of former Governor Rudy Perpich.