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Update for March 19, 2010

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Mark your Calendar!
Monday, April 26th, 8:30 a.m.
Our 8th Annual Parent Leadership Summit
Learn • Network • Act!
TIES Building, St. Paul
(Registration will open on March 29)

• Come in the morning to learn what is happening in Minnesota public schools and what the future holds.
• Join us for lunch – Mary Cecconi will present on “Vegetarians in the Sausage-making Factory.”
• New this year – Stay with us for an hour after lunch for a school funding primer and a legislative session wrap-up. 

This Week At the Capitol
Several issues are affecting the session, not the least of which is the bonding bill signed, and line-item vetoed; the Supreme Court’s pending decision on the Unallotment issue; a newly signed federal jobs bill; a planned vote on health care; and the potential of an additional $408 million federal dollars to Minnesota. All of these events affect the final outcome of the session.

Also at the federal level and specifically for education, the USDOE (United States Department of Education) unveiled its Blueprint for Reform, a reauthorization of NCLB.

House K-12 Education Finance Division
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville)
Going through the amendment process this week was HF3163, which will more than likely be the vehicle for the 2010 Education Omnibus Bill. All – or none – of the bills heard in committee may show up as provisions in that Omnibus Bill.

Land Trust has become an important issue and a presentation from representatives from Utah was met with great interest. Land deeded from the federal government at the time of statehood holds the state as trustees to use revenue from that land for schools. Continuing work from last year’s session, HF3475 pursues avenues to increase those revenues for the benefit our students.

In this issue

House K-12 Education Policy and Oversight
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul)
For this committee, the majority of this week was spent on HF3421. This bill significantly changes the graduation requirements in the State of Minnesota from passage of a single GRAD test to the use of multiple measures indicative of college/career readiness. HF3421 is premised on the use of Algebra 2 and Biology End Of Course (EOC) exams that account for 25% of a final course grade and passage of separate reading and writing standardized tests. Our update last week highlighted the work of ACCESS, a task force charged with developing the new high school assessment system.

A word about process:
HF3421, as introduced, was authored by Chair Mariani. It is a courtesy that the Chair authors a bill for the MDE (Minnesota Department of Education.) The beginning of the amendment process may include the author offering a “delete all” amendment to more accurately reflect what the author wants in his bill. H3421A6 Mariani amendment.

One amendment defeated in committee was a provision to issue dual Minnesota High School diplomas – one “standard” and one “advanced.” From our perspective, this kind of change in Minnesota’s public school system should require major study and not be entered into lightly.

I often talk about how we see “state policy by anecdote, not research.” This episode highlights that situation. Before a significant change, we should expect evidence to be presented that demonstrates that the change would benefit our students and increase student learning. This progression of additions and deletions of provisions can significantly transform the intent of a bill and is worthy of considerable attention.

In this issue

Senate E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Leroy Stumpf (DFL-Thief River Falls)
A provision in SF3045 Sect. 11 advocated by the MDE allows for replication of high-performing charter schools. From SF3045: “The commissioner may approve up to five charter or school models proven to emulate highly-effective practices as measured by the statewide accountability system…or another state’s federally approved accountability system.”

A charter school that the Minnesota Commissioner of Education determines has shown effectiveness in Minnesota or another state may expand in up to five sites governed by one board. The provision allows these new charter school sites to meet the federal definition of a “new charter” and therefore may qualify for federal start-up money. That would mean each site would qualify for $150,000 each of their first three years. The provision proved to be controversial.

Also, Section 4 in SF3045 holds a provision concerning an Early Learning and Care system in Minnesota. There is great sensitivity on the part of the committee to balance parental rights regarding assessment of children in early care and learning programs with the desire to have “all” children school ready. SF3045 was laid on the table for possible inclusion in an E-12 Education Omnibus bill.

SF2757, a bill allowing for an alternative pathway to teacher licensure passed out of committee on a close vote and drew strong opinions on both sides. Should students, especially those “at risk” who are targeted by several of these alternative license programs, be taught only by teachers who have been traditionally trained? Or should those who participate in alternative routes to teaching licensure, specifically to teach at-risk students, be given that opportunity in Minnesota?

This week also brought great support for myriad bills dealing with early care and childhood, not the least of which is the creation of an Office of Early Learning. After many, many years it appears legislative action may move Minnesota toward a streamlined, robust system for early care and education.

In this issue

A Look Ahead
HF3163/SF3110 will be the basis for the E-12 Education Omnibus Bill. Assume other education bills will be rolled into this “vehicle.” The Omnibus for 2010 is coming together.

Senator Bakk is trying to expand sales tax to clothing while decreasing other taxes to gain around $250 million; the hope is that Congress can provide $408 million. The Senate tax committee passed their bill to cut $313 million. At this point the Senate has yet to cut health and human services or education, but all of this is dependent on increasing revenues from some source(s).

Do not be surprised: If these sources do not come through,
SCHOOLS WILL HAVE TO BE CUT.

In this issue

Bills to Watch

• SF2980 (Bakk DFL- Cook) State and local government financing provisions modification; school districts current year aid payment percentage reductions; sales tax rate reduction and rate of adjustment proportion calculation requirement; commissioner of revenue rate adjustment.
• SF2496 (Rummel-DFL-White Bear Lake)
• HF2884 (Mariani-DFL- St. Paul) Policy innovation and research legislative commission establishment
• SF2769 (Betzold-DFL-Fridley)
• HF3036 (Newton-DFL-Coon Rapids)School board expiring referendum renewal authority. A bill with a companion in both bodies has an increased chance of making it into a final Omnibus bill.
• HF3082 (Lenczewski-DFL-Bloomington) State budget balancing appropriations reduced, calculation modified for state aids and credits to cities, counties, school districts, and other local governments, and money appropriated. Just introduced, and with no companion in the Senate, this bill changes the per pupil formula from $5,124 for 2010 to $4,659 in 2011 and 12 and $4,785 from that time on.

In this issue

From the Website

Find these articles — and much, much more — at our News & Events page!

• Big Thinkers: Linda Darling-Hammond on Becoming Internationally Competitive
  
  
• Intelligent Community Forum’s The Education “Last Mile” – Closing the Gap from School to Work
  
  
• A rich source of current education issues – Our News Archive!
  
  
• From the Brookings Institution, Faith in Common Standards Not Enough

In this issue

List of Bills

House K-12 Education Finance

• HF3475 (Dittrich-DFL-Champlin) Independent agency created to oversee management of Minnesota's permanent school fund lands. - information only
• HF3478 (Benson-DFL-Minnetonka) School district mandates reduced, additional flexibility allowed, and certain fund transfers authorized.
• HF3308 (Newton-DFL-Coon Rapids) Capital expenditure health and safety revenue program simplified.
• HF3532 (Peterson-DFL-New Hope) School district not required to provide educational services to students without disabilities from other states.
• HF2962 (Fritz-DFL-Faribault) Minnesota Academy for the Deaf and Minnesota Academy for the Blind provided trial placement.
• HF3115 (Norton-DFL-Rochester) Statewide physical education standards and report required, and a healthy kids awards program established.
• HF3120 (Bly-DFL-Northfield) Efficiency plus access task forces created, and money appropriated.
• HF3123 (Morgan-DFL-Burnsville) K-12 special education third-party billing process made more cost effective
• HF3043 (Kalin-DFL-North Branch) Computer-adaptive assessments provided for general education students.
• HF3267 (Newton-DFL-Coon Rapids) Advisory task force established on school desegregation and integration.
• HF3163 (Mariani-DFL-St. Paul) Prekindergarten through grade 12 funding provided, including general education, education excellence, special programs, and early childhood education.) K-12 special education third-party billing process made more cost effective.

• HF3172 (Cornish-R-Good Thunder) Baseball field advertisements permitted.
• HF2867 (Newton-DFL-Coon Rapids) Child with a disability definition clarified and obligations to children with disabilities specified.
• HF3421 (Mariani-DFL-St. Paul) High school assessments established to determine college and career readiness.

In this issue

• SF2757 (Bonoff-DFL-Minnetonka) Teaching board teacher preparation and licensure programs authorization.
• SF2698 (Koch-R-Buffalo) Graduation required assessment for diploma (GRAD) retake requirement modification.
• SF3002 (Bonoff-DFL-Minnetonka) School desegregation and integration advisory task force establishment.
• SF3045 (Wiger-DFL-Maplewood) Prekindergarten through grade 12 education policy provisions modifications; general education, education excellence, special programs and early childhood education.
• SF3087 (Senjem-R-Rochester) Student maltreatment parent notification requirements modifications; disciplined teachers mental health screening requirement; teaching license revocations; mandatory child maltreatment reporting district policy development requirement.
• SF3131 (Clark-DFL-St. Cloud) Early childhood education and care advisory council statewide school readiness report card creation and implementation recommendations.
• SF3119 (Rummel-DFL-White Bear Lake) Early childhood education and care advisory council membership and duties modifications.
• SF552 (Rosen-R-Fairmont) Early childhood, youth, community education and after school enrichment minimum revenue increase for school districts.
• SF2807 (Bonoff-DFL-Minnetonka) Early childhood education program for at-risk four-year-old children creation and levy authorization.
• SF2909 (Saxhaug-DFL-Grand Rapids) Early childhood community partnerships grant program creation and appropriation.
• SF487 (Michel-R-Edina) Office of early learning creation.

• HF3225 (Slawik-DFL-Maplewood) Child care assistance provider rates modified.
• HF3670 (Nornes-DFL-Fergus Falls) Early childhood education funding provided, and money appropriated. Presentation on potential federal funding for home visiting programs.
• HF3195 (Peterson-DFL-New Hope) Early childhood education program created for at-risk four-year-olds.  

In this issue

“Childhood has no rewind: Our children cannot go back to grade school and
get another education when times are better and we all have more to give.
When the playground is empty and the children are gone,
either we will have sacrificed for them, or we won’t."