February 23-26
Joint Senate & House Finance/Ways and Means Committee Hearings In the Metro Area
See "What Can I Do?" for more information.

Monday, March 16, St. Paul
Parents United's Annual Parent Leadership Summit
Register now -- First 75 paid registrations eligible for $100 Target gift card!

Note: The next budget projection is due out on Tuesday, March 3, 2009

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

In this issue

What is Happening at the Capitol?
On Tuesday, February 17, the House Policy and Oversight committee heard testimony from the Minnesota Business Partnership and members of the State Chamber of Commerce regarding the Itasca Project’s report, "Minnesota’s Future: World-class Schools, World-class Jobs." The report has five recommendations: close the achievement gap; provide world-class academic standards; “hold the line” on the GRAD test (keep it in place); recruit and retain top talent; and provide fiscal accountability and efficiency. When asked by legislators how they would pay for these recommendations, they stated that they believed there was sufficient money in the existing system.

In an interesting exchange, Rep. Brynaert (DFL-Mankato) suggested that their third point—“to hold the line on the GRAD test”— was not in line with their other goals and suggested that what they really wanted was high level math achievement. And if that is indeed their goal, it is unclear that the use of the GRAD test will achieve that goal.

Senate Education took testimony from Growth and Justice’s two year study "Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students." We are so pleased to offer this entire report to you at our March 16 Parent Leadership Summit where Dr. Eilers will be presenting.

Tuesday, February 17, at K-12 Education Finance Division a report was heard from the Special Education Task Force, and on Wednesday the Minnesota Department of Education presented information to both House and Senate committees on the federal stimulus package and how it may play out in Minnesota.

The details of the federal stimulus plan are not all in yet, so a full understanding of how these dollars may affect our schools is not totally clear. But it is safe to say that this is a job stimulus package and as such the dollars MUST be used to supplement—not supplant—current school spending. The current legislation provides funding for two years and it must be used in that time frame and then, without a change in law, the funding stops.

We could simply bemoan that or, as Sen. Torres Ray pointed out in committee, we could instead use this as an opportunity to use these dollars to improve what we are currently doing and learn what works best to increase student achievement. We will be hearing much more about this plan in the coming weeks and months. As the details become clearer, we will provide the information to you in a concise summary on our website.

In this issue

A Look Ahead
February 23 - 26: Don’t forget -- Joint Senate-House Committee hearings coming to the metro area! These meetings are meant to solicit testimony reacting to the governor’s budget.

The Governor’s education bill is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Senate Education Committee. The Governor’s education bill is based on the budget proposals he announced several weeks ago; the newest information from the Federal Stimulus package may substantially impact those proposals. For background and up-to-date information on the Governor's budget and many related issues, check out a new page on our website, 2009 Special Features.

In this issue

At the Federal Level
We are just beginning to hear what the recently passed Federal Stimulus Package means to Minnesota. It cannot be stressed too much that the intent of this plan is meant as a job stimulus plan, not as one to fully fund special education or No Child Left Behind — although some wish it would.

We do know that the Elementary and Secondary School Education Act—which has been in federal law since 1965 and now is known as No Child Left Behind—will need to be reauthorized. This is done every five years and the sitting president is able to place his/her stamp on it. Under the Clinton administration it was known as the School Improvement Act and the intention was to give schools incentives for students' academic success. Under the Bush administration it was changed to No Child Left Behind with sanctions for schools who failed to make "adequate yearly progress." During this newest reauthorization, the Obama administration will be able to place their stamp on it.