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Senate Majority Research
Omnibus E-12 Education Conference Committee Report SUMMARY The Omnibus E-12 Education bill holds school funding flat, using federal American Resource and Recovery Act (ARRA) dollars to sustain education budgets for the coming biennium. Approximately $500 million of ARRA money is used for Minnesota school districts. The 2010- 2011 biennial education budget totals $13.89 billion. There is no funding formula increase; base funding for schools remains at $5,124/pupil for the coming two years. The bill does not use a payment shift to help fill the deficit. The bill does contain numerous policy provisions including charter school reform, mandate reduction, and statewide testing changes. It does not include the shared services provisions or the consolidated levy. The bill cuts $1.5 million from the Department of Education and uses that money to fund Reading Corps and Math and Science Teacher Centers. School districts will be allowed to again transfer $51 per student from capital accounts to general fund accounts, helping to ease budget deficits. Article 1 Referendum Revenue Petition Changes: Bill language that allows voters to either invoke or revoke a school district referendum has been deleted from state law. Length of School Year: The bill changes the length of the school year from days to hours: 425 hours for kindergarten students (2.5 hours); 935 hours for grades 1-6 (5.5 hours); and 1,020 for grades 7-12 (6 hours). Charter schools are included in this change. These hourly amounts total about 170 days. There is an additional provision that reduces state aid to districts that don’t meet the required number of school hours. Wind Energy Conversion System Joint Powers: This provision authorizes a school board, individually or as a member of a joint powers board, to become a partner, member, or shareholder in a company that is formed for the sole purpose of constructing, acquiring, owning, or financing a wind energy conversion system. The boards are prohibited from selling, transmitting or distributing electrical energy at retail. Retired employee health benefits (OPEB) Changes: This major provision makes changes to a provision in last year’s Tax Bill. Last year, districts were giving the authority to bond without holding a referendum to pay for retiree health care benefits. The money raised from the bonds has to be put into a special fund and used as needed. The bill gives districts two choices: districts can either continue to bond but must hold an election or pass an annual pay-as-you-go levy if approved by the commissioner and within a statewide limit. Districts have until October 1, 2009 to bond for these costs without holding an election. Safe Schools Levy: The bill modifies the maintenance of effort requirement for school districts that use the Safe Schools levy, allowing the MOE to be calculated on either a fulltime employee basis or total dollar basis. Current law requires districts to maintain at least the same level of spending for licensed school counselors, nurses, social workers school psychologists and alcohol and chemical dependency counselors. Article 2 Education Excellence School Conferences: The bill allows a parent or guardian to designate an individual to participate in a school conference involving the child of that parent or guardian. Legitimate Excused Absences: This provision allows a student to be excused from school for mental health reasons with a note from a mental health professional. Reading/Literacy Instruction: This provision is designed to ensure effective reading strategies in Minnesota schools, includes the definitions of the five strands of reading, requires a person (teacher candidate) to successfully complete a reading instruction assessment to measure the knowledge skill and ability of pre-kindergarten and elementary licensure candidates in comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction as defined in this bill before being granted a license. Higher education institutions are also required to prepare licensure candidates for the reading assessment. Minnesota Reading Corps: A Minnesota reading corps program is established to provide Americorps members with a data-based problem-solving model of literacy instruction to train local Head Start program providers, other pre-kindergarten program providers, and staff in schools with students in kindergarten through grade 3 to evaluate and teach early literacy skills to children age 3 to grade 3. ($750,000) Math and Science Teacher Academies: Additional funds are appropriated to expand and build on the Math and Science Teacher Academies ($750,000). Academic Achievement: This provision expands the eligibility for AP/IB funds to include concurrent enrollment programs if the school board has adopted a three-year plan to create or expand an existing concurrent enrollment program. Statewide Testing: A number of requirement changes are made in the bill, but the major change grants a five-year window for students to gain proficiency on the mathematics GRAD test. Major changes:
The bill also establishes a work group to study and report a comprehensive high school assessment and accountability system that aligns to college and career readiness headed by the Department of Education and the University of Minnesota. A report must be made to the Commissioner of Education by December 15, 2009 and to the Legislature by February 15, 2010. STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND GROWTH: The commissioner must develop and implement a system for measuring and reporting academic achievement and individual student growth, consistent with the statewide educational accountability and reporting system. The system components must measure and separately report the adequate yearly progress of schools and the growth of individual students: students' current achievement in schools and individual students' educational growth over time. The system also must include statewide measures of student academic growth that identify schools with high levels of growth, and also schools with low levels of growth that need improvement. Temporary School Closing: This provision amends current law and allows a school district that plans to either close or lease a school for education for fewer than three years only has to hold a public meeting on the change and allow for public comment. QComp Application Grants: Requires that unexpended QComp funding can be distributed via grants to school districts in Greater Minnesota that are working to implement QComp programs. Staff Development Set Aside Suspension: For two years, the staff development revenue set aside requirements is suspended and the revenue can be used for general education purposes. P-20 Partnership established: The bill establishes a P-20 partnership to create a seamless education system that maximizes the achievement of all students from early childhood through postsecondary education and promotes the efficient use of resources and lists partnership members, which include members of the P-16 Education Partnership and four legislators. The bill also requires partnership members to be the leader or designee of their respective organizations and requires partnership members to meet at least three times during each calendar year. It also directs the partnership to seek outside expertise. Innovative School Advisory Council: The bill creates the Innovative School Advisory Council that will recommend to the Commissioner of Education on matters including: information on site-governed school models; supports for charter and district school innovation; find ways to improve communications, cooperation, and the exchange of ideas between charters, public and district schools about how current law can be used to foster innovative new schools and identify ways for schools to learn from innovators in non-education sectors. Online Learning Changes: The bill extends the Online Advisory Council’s expiration date to June 30, 2013. The bill also tightens parameters for online learning providers, requiring they report student progress and credit accumulation to parents and school districts, requires that they assure the Commissioner of Education that the online courses meet state standards and that course curricula meet national standards. Article 3 Special Programs Special Education Funding: No changes to special education funding were made in Senate File 1328. Special Education Services Modifications: The bill includes provisions that were designed by the Special Education Task Force. The Task Force included legislators, education stakeholders and representatives of the Department of Education. Many of the modifications streamline Minnesota’s requirements and align them with federal guidelines. Language in the bill conforms exclusion and expulsion procedures for disabled students to federal law; requires schools to have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for every student with a disability; requires hearing officers to participate in training offered by the commissioner and aligns state law with federal requirements regarding hearing requests. The bill also changes requirements on restrictive procedures for children with disabilities. It requires districts that intend to use restrictive procedures to maintain and make public the procedures plan. It also defines who may use restrictive procedures, parental notification requirements and IEP designs when the procedures are used twice within 30 days. It also outlines prohibitions and training requirements. The bill does not change state law concerning how non-public special education services are delivered to non-public school students being served in public schools. It also does not change non-public school transportation service requirements. Article 4 Facilities and Technology Alternative Facilities Plan and Publication Requirement Repeal: Three provisions eliminate various requirements related to Alternative Facilities Bonding Authority: the requirement for a district to submit a separate five-year facility plan to the commissioner prior to receiving alternative facilities revenue; the requirement that a district publish the commissioner’s review and comment as a part of the notice preceding the sale of alternative facilities bonds; and the requirement that a district publish the commissioner’s review and comment as a part of the notice prior to the district’s levying for alternative bonding projects. Review and Comment and Consultation: This provision increases the estimated cost of a capital project from $250,000 to $500,000 requiring a district to consult with the Commissioner of Education. Article 5 Libraries, Nutrition and Accounting Library Maintenance of Effort: The bill allows cities and counties to restrict their library maintenance of effort if the city or county aid credits are reduced from the previous calendar year. Capital account transfers: This provision allows school districts to transfer up to $51 per student from its reserved operating capital account to its undesignated balance in the general fund, upon the adoption of a written resolution by the school board. This provision was also included in the 2008 budget bill. Lac Qui Parle Valley: The Lac Qui Parle Valley School District may transfer up to $221,000 from its debt redemption fund to its reserved for operating capital account. Mankato: The Mankato School District may transfer up to $250,000 from its debt redemption fund to its undesignated general fund balance. Ortonville: The Ortonville School District may transfer up to $200,000 from its debt redemption fund to its reserved for operating capital account without making a levy reduction. St. Anthony-New Brighton: The St. Anthony-New Brighton, to transfer up to $400,000 from its reserved for operating capital account to its undesignated general fund balance. Article 6 Early Childhood Education Quality Rating and Improvement System: The Quality Rating and Improvement System framework is created to ensure that all children have access to quality early learning programs. The voluntary QRIS includes quality opportunities in order to improve the educational outcomes of children so they are ready for school. The framework shall be based on the Minnesota QRIS rating tool and a common set of child outcome and program standards and informed by evaluation results. Early Learning Study: The Departments of Human Services and Education will develop a study to determine how to effectively transition basic sliding fee child care, MFIP child care, and child care development grants from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Education; and determine how to create an early learning system with one common set of standards. The Department of Human Services and Department of Education must report the results of this study by February 15, 2010, to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over health and human services, early education, and K-12 education. Community education annual report repeal: The bill repeals the requirement that districts report the cost per participant and cost per contact hour in their annual report to the department and repeals the requirement that the department include this information in the community education annual report. Youth service programs list repeal: The bill repeals the requirement that the commissioner maintain a list of acceptable youth service projects. Article 8 Pupil Transportation (This is the same as SF 1654, Olseen) This is a school bus conformity bill. It corrects several cross-references. It also requires school buses manufactured on or after October 21, 2009 must meet federal standards. School bus tailpipe location and length are modified. This bill also changes the gross vehicle weight classifications of Type A school buses. Buses with a gross vehicle weight rating from under 10,000 pounds to 14,500 pounds or less are classified as Type A-I. Buses with gross vehicle weight rating between 14,500 and 21,500 pounds are classified as Type A-II. The reason for this modification in definition is to reflect the use of diesel engines in these school buses. Diesel engines are heavier than standard engines, so their use causes the bus weight to increase. Current statute allows drivers without a school bus endorsement to operate Type A school buses for activity routes. A provision in this bill incorporates the new definition of a Type A-I school bus and multi-function school buses into this allowance. Multi-function school buses are similar to a Type A-I bus in size, weight, and passengers, but are not painted yellow and black. Both Type A-I and multi-function school buses are designed to carry less than 15 passengers. Finally, the bill provides that schools or private contractors shall verify at least every 380 days the validity of bus driver’s license with the National Driver Register or DVS. They must also provide in-service annual training. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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