The Latest.  I neglected to include Governor Walz' Executive Order relating to education in my last entry, so here it is:  Executive Order 20-19.  This order extends the distance learning directive until May 1, 2020.  Distance learning officially began today and I am certain many of you are experiencing "first day of school" issues.  These are trying times, but I know that school officials from top-to-bottom are up to meeting the challenges associated with this unprecedented pandemic.

The Legislature was slated to return to work on April 14, but given the Presidents new guidelines on social distancing that stretch to April 30, full resumption of legislative operations on April 14 becomes less likely.  There has been talk of somehow trying to hold committee meetings online, but incorporating comprehensive public input in such a system would be challenging.  In terms of timeline, again it's important to note that the regular legislative session must adjourn on Monday, May 18.

Legislative Passes COVID-19 Response Bill.  If you live long enough, you'll see just about anything and what I witnessed today was unprecedented in the 44 years I've been around the Legislature.  I've seen sessions held in makeshift facilities because of the Capitol restoration.  I've seen six special sessions over a two year period.  But what happened today with the passage of HF 4531 was much different and, given the circumstances, pretty amazing.  Due to spread of COVID-19, the both houses of the Legislature observed social distancing guidelines, with legislators voting in shifts or remotely.  The $330 million bill largely concentrates on the health and human services sector, with $200,000 dedicated to the COVID-19 fund which is established to "protect Minnesota citizens" and "maintain state government operations" during the peacetime emergency period.  Expenditures and transfers from the fund will be governed by a legislative task force comprised of ten legislators (five from the Senate and five from the House) that will approve, reject, or take no action on proposals made by the Administration.  A negative decision by the task force prevents the revenue in the proposal from being expended or transferred.

Other items that are included in the bill are:

• $40 million for the Department of Energy and Economic Development for business assistance.
• $71 million for the Department of Human Services for a variety of programs ($30.0 million for emergency childcare, $26.5 million for assistance to the homeless population, $9.0 million for food shelves, and $5.5 million for housing).
• $11 million for Minnesota's Native American tribal governments.

The final votes on the bill were 67-0 in the Senate and 99-4 in the House.  Even with the lop-sided votes, there were concerns over how the bill was constructed, as circumstances dictated a decision-making process where it was impossible to incorporate the traditional committee process and substantial input from the community.

One issue that was not addressed by today's bill is that of education.  The House has been working on an amendment that would assure hourly and contract employees--who have been on the front lines in helping provide childcare and helping districts prepare for distance learning--will be paid during the distance learning period along with a number of provisions that would make certain school district funding is stable, but the education issue was not included in today's legislation, leaving a number of key funding issues up in the air for the time being.  Schools have been (and will be facing) a number of difficult challenges as reaction to the pandemic continues and some level of certainty surrounding the funding issue will be crucial.

MDE Resources.  I know many of you are participating in the superintendents' calls and getting up-to-date answers on many of the emerging issues that will be in front of schools as they sail into these uncharted waters.  Here is a link to MDE's COVID-19 resource page:  MDE COVID-19 Updates.  Answers on the various issue areas can be found in the column on the left hand margin.  An area that bears close scrutiny is that of special education, which is complicated enough in the regular setting.  Issues surrounding student confidentiality and due process may be particularly thorny and today's update on the site includes guidance on a number of special education-related issues:  Special Education COVID-19 Resources

My Moment on the Soapbox.

As the state embarks on its voyage into distance learning next Monday, I am reminded of how many times decision-makers have been reminded of how Minnesota's commitment to broadband accessibility has yet to reach all corners of the state.  There have been efforts to improve connectivity throughout the state, but there are so many communities (and some of these communities aren't geographically remote and within an hour of the metropolitan area) where digital access is extremely limited.  In a number of these communities, the school is the place where access is assured and the strongest, but guess what?  School buildings are now closed and many students working from home don't have reliable (in many cases, any) broadband service.  I fully understand the argument that cautions investment in a technology where rapid progress makes what appears sensible one day outdated the next, but too many Minnesota students still lack basic access to what will be the primary means of delivering educational services for the next month.

A Couple of Quick Notes.  I hope as many of you as can are taking advantage of the resources being offered by the Minnesota Department of Education.  You should check out the COVIG-19 Page on the MDE website.  There was a Q&A page posted today that fielded a number of questions from the field.  The unprecedented nature of the crisis we find ourselves in makes it difficult to answer every question that will arise, but the guidance being given is timely.

Here is a link to the MDE Coronavirus Information Page.  Scroll down to the Q&A, which was first posted yesterday and will be updated with new information regularly:  MDE COVID-19 Updates 

National Outlook.  Education Week has been running a variety of interesting features following the national COVID-19 outbreak.  I find this map showing how various states are dealing with the issue of whether to close schools (and for how long).  It should be noted in which might be a harbinger that Kansas has closed schools for the remainder of the school year with all instruction taking place online from this point forward.

Map: Coronavirus and School Closures

New Legislative Arrangements.  Given the COVID-19 precautions that are taking root across the state, the Minnesota Legislature will be adjusting its business practices over the next month.  Through April 14, the Legislature will be meeting on an on-call basis.  It appears that there will be committee meetings, but those meetings will be held in spaces where six-feet spaces between participants can be maintained.  There is also an agreement that all caucuses must agree on legislation to be discussed.  It's unclear whether that means bills brought to the floors of the House and Senate (or in committees in either House) must be, in effect, pre-confereed so that the content is the same in both bodies.  More details will be forthcoming, but here is the release from the House of Representatives on the decision.

Precaution: Legislature to be ‘on-call’ for four weeks

More Information on Statewide School Closure:  I have linked below the documents prepared by the Minnesota Department of Education to answer questions and provide guidance for local school districts, students, and parents related to the Executive Order relating to school closures issued by Governor Walz today.  As was stated at the press conference, it is impossible to foresee all the issues that may arise and there may additional advice and guidance in the days ahead, but this should serve as a solid hub from which emerging issues can be accommodated.

Here is a link to the Minnesota Department of Education web page with additional information.  Note that the 3/15 links relate directly tot the Governor's press conference this morning.  The most relevant document is entitled:  School Closure Guidance for Public School Districts and Charter Schools

Minnesota Department of Education Covid-19 Resource Page

Addendum to Previous Entry:  Reactions to the Governor's decision to close schools are taking shape.  Here is the reaction from the Senate DFL Minority Leader Susan Kent through an Instagram post:  Senate DFL Reaction to School Closures

Governor Ordering School Closure Beginning Wednesday, March 18.  The story did not appear in the Sunday paper, but it is on the online edition of the Minneapolis StarTribune.  Governor Walz has ordered schools to close beginning on Wednesday, March 18, with the statewide closure to last until Friday, March 27.  I am posting the news story from that edition of the paper along with a copy of the Executive Order Governor Walz will issue.  There are obviously a lot of issues that will crop up and answers will be likely be provided over time as not every complication can be envisioned.  Stay tuned.

Governor Walz Executive Order on Closure of Schools

StarTribune: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says K-12 schools closing; state now has 35 confirmed cases of COVID-19

Coronavirus Challenges.  The spreading Coronavirus is just starting to have a ripple effect on school systems throughout the nation.  As of early this afternoon, six states--Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, and West Virginia--have closed schools within their boundaries.  Additionally, the Governor of Kentucky has recommended that all schools close, but there has been no formal action forcing that decision.  Many large urban school districts have also decided to close for the time being.  Among these districts are Atlanta, Austin (TX), Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.  Closer to home, the Robbinsdale district has closed.  As far as statewide action in Minnesota, that is a developing story, which is to be expected given that we are in uncharted territory. 

Minnesota Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Heather Mueller (shown above) answered questions regarding how the state will proceed on this matter at Friday morning's general session of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators' Spring Conference.  The Q-and-A session took place after information was presented by the Minnesota Department of Health through a phone broadcast to conference participants.  Given the nature of what is happening and the fact that each district in Minnesota faces different challenges, it is extremely difficult to give definitive answers as the extent of the spread of the virus widens.  That said, Deputy Commissioner Mueller did an excellent job in gathering the wide range of issues facing Minnesota school districts as they deal with students and staff.

As we have seen in the past week, major entertainment and sporting events have been cancelled until further notice at both the professional and amateur levels.  By doing this, it is hoped that the virus will be contained more effectively than what has been the case in other countries by "flattening the curve" of transmission through social distancing.  These are challenging times and I will keep my eye out for information that may be valuable to you as you face the issues related to the coronavirus locally.

Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 Information Page

Minnesota Department of Education COVID-19 Information Page

Governor's Supplemental Budget Released.  Governor Walz released his supplemental budget for the 2020 session yesterday and it contains a number of initiatives relating to education.  The level of budget recommendations for the remainder of this biennium is $256.9 million, with budget commitments in the next biennium of $268.5 million.  While not as robust as many non-budget year supplemental budgets in the past few decades, it is larger than I thought it would be given what I was hearing from a number of policymakers.

E-12 education gets a boost in the budget, particularly in the area of funding for student support staff (school social workers, school psychologists, school counselors, school nurses, and school chemical health counselors).  The budget calls for $20 million for the 2020-21 school year in additional funding that would be distributed to all school districts for hiring or purchasing student support personnel.  That amount would increase to $25 million in the 2021-22 school year and $27 million in the 2022-23 school year.  This is not a re-establishment of the grant program that was passed in 2016.  These dollars will flow to all school districts.  I have not seen the language of the proposal to know details beyond that.

The budget also includes the following recommendations for the E-12 system:

• $1.5 million this year and annually in the base going forward for technology upgrades at MDE.
• $2.0 million this year and annually in the base going forward for full-service community schools.
• $1.0 million this year and annually in the base going forward for hiring equity coaches to provide staff development to teachers and other staff on racial consciousness.
• $880,000 this year and $430,000 annually in the base going forward for providing support to districts in helping support the new standards related to understanding the value and contributions of tribal nations.
• $377,000 this year and $377,000 annually in the base going forward to restore Head Start program funding to Native American tribal programs.

As stated above, I have yet to see the language accompanying the budget recommendations and I will provide those details once they are available.

Here is a link to the Management and Budget Web Page that provides information across all budget categories:

2020-21 Supplemental Budget Recommendations--Al Funds By Agency

Same Goal, Different Paths.  Friday saw two sessions--one in the House and one in the Senate--at which two different approaches were posited to Minnesota's stubborn achievement and opportunity gaps.  All parties (in both political parties) believe addressing these gaps are among the highest--probably the highest--priorities that needs to be addressed in Minnesota's E-12 education system.  The Senate spent Friday morning listening to a presentation by former Justice Alan Page and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neil Kashkari discuss the constitutional amendment (introduced as SF 3977/HF 3658) they have promoted for thhe past several months.  Witnesses on both sides of the issue provided testimony during the two-hour hearing.  It is difficult to discern how much tangible support for the amendment has at this juncture with skepticism (polite, but skepticism nonetheless) coming from both sides of the political aisle.  The Senate took no action at Friday's hearing and the House (which I will write about in greater detail in a minute) has not had a formal hearing on the proposal.

I'm not a constitutional expert, but I've always viewed constitutions--both Federal and State--as fence posts that determine the available space for policy.  Passing the amendment would surely move the posts, but it's difficult to see whether the policy space would be altered.  The big difference between the current constitutional clause and the proposed clause is it moves beyond "system" to formalizing the fundamental right (currently affirmed in case law) to an education by placing it in the constitution and replacing general/uniform/thorough/efficient with a guarantee of a "quality" education.  The notion of quality is where things become slippery and it would likely take a generation to determine what that may mean.  Stay tuned because I think it's safe to say that discussion of this effort will continue throughout the session.

The House spent the entire day in a symposium dedicated to description of and possible remedies to the achievement and opportunity gaps.  The morning featured an outline of some of the major issues that contribute to the achievement and opportunity gaps, with presentations from State Demographer Susan Brower, Kathleen Annette from the Blandin Foundation, Dr. Michael Rodriguez from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Bernadeia Johnson from Minnesota State-Mankato University, and Daniel Thatcher from the National Conference on State Legislatures.  Talk shifted in the afternoon, with Justice Page and President Kashkari crossing the street from the Minnesota Senate Building to the State Office Building to once again present their case for a constitutional change and a number of panels--including one featuring a set of Minnesota superintendents outlining their efforts to close the achievement gap. 

To the right we see Justice Page and President Kashkari providing their perspectives on the proposed constitutional amendment.  Their presentation last half an hour and there was little in the way of substantive discussion of the proposal.

On the left we see Fridley superintendent Dr. Kim Heil, along with four other Minnesota superintendents from both the metropolitan area and Rochester, speaking of steps they have taken--including participation in the Reimagisne Minnesota Project that is working to create increased educational opportunities for students, especially those in highly diverse metropolitan and outstate districts.

The week ahead will certainly be a busy one.  The first committee deadline is Friday, March 13, so if policy bills don't clear a policy committee in either the House or Senate by that date, Jason will have put them out of their misery.  Finance committees have until Friday, April 3, to hear finance-related bills.  So buckle up and avoid guys wearing hockey masks.

More Great Work from the Legislative Auditor.  The Office of the Legislative Auditor released its report on the compensatory education program today and presented the report to the House Education Finance Division.  Jodie Hauer from the Program Evaluation Division and Assistant Legislative Auditor Judy Randall presented the study.  As with all the work done by the Office of the Legislative Auditor, the report was comprehensive and well documented.  Many of the discussions surrounding the program have been around since the establishment of the compensatory revenue formula in 1987.  The demography of the student population has changed dramatically since the late-1980s and the compensatory revenue program has tried to keep pace with these changes.  Questions of transparency and appropriate use of the revenue have cropped up at several points in the past and the report dives into some of these issues in detail.  As the state moves forward, narrowing the achievement gap between white students and their peers in the various populations of color is at or near the top of the list of issues that must be addressed.  Having a compensatory formula that works will be crucial if this goal is to be met and this report should lay the groundwork for a fruitful debate on what the program should look like.

Here is a link to the report page in the Office of the Legislative Auditor:  OLA Report on Compensatory Revenue (Report Links in Right Hand Column)

School Safety Revenue Proposal Heard in Senate.  The Senate E-12 Finance and Policy Committee heard Senator Carla Nelson's SF 3629 this afternoon.  SF 3629 would extend the one-time school safety revenue that was passed last session one more year and extend eligibility for the revenue to the intermediate districts, rural education cooperatives, charter schools, and private schools.  In a year when additional revenue for schools may be difficult to come by, school safety may be the one area where the spirit of bipartisanship and willingness to spend may coincide to the extent a positive result can be reached.  Below is a link to the spreadsheet that shows the amount of revenue each district would receive under the bill.

SF 3629 Data Run (Total Revenue is Column K)

A Quick Run-Through on the Last Two Days.  We are being treated to a full slate of education-related hearings with the Senate E-12 Finance and Policy Committee meeting yesterday and the House Education Finance Division and Education Policy Committee meeting today.  The Senate tackled several bills on Monday, the most notable bill heard was Senator Nelson's SF 3351, a bill that would allow private duty nurses to accompany students on school grounds under doctor's orders relating to the student.  There are a few concerns regarding that bill, but that's not the big story regarding what happened yesterday.  Senator Nelson amended two provisions--bills that actually fell by the wayside at the end of last session--onto SF 3351.  The first provision would allow districts to serve special education students with IEPs in a non-related area to receive services under ADSIS programs.  The second would allow districts to perform functional behavioral assessments as a stand-alone and not require them to be part of a comprehensive evaluation of a students.  What this move signals is an attempt to find a way to move non-controversial (or relatively non-controversial) measures through the Legislature this year and not have them get caught up in an uncertain end-of-session scenario.  As you recall, a lot of policy initiatives died in 2018 because they were contained in the nearly 1,000-page supplemental budget and policy bill that the Governor vetoed.  The fact those measures died gummed up the works last session, as most of them came back again and given the change in control of the House, many had to be re-heard and go through the process again.  Of the bills now contained in SF 3351, only the ADSIS provision has been heard in the House and it is now on the House floor after gaining committee approval.  There are a number of avenues that can be pursued, but it's a positive sign that the House and Senate are trying to find ways to move non-controversial items through the process.  Another bill heard on Monday would extend districts' ability to utilize E-learning days.  That bill is Senator Paul Anderson's SF 2259.

The House Education Finance Committee spent its morning on three bills that were considered last session, but did not make it into the final budget agreement.  Of these, the most notable bill is Representative Rena Moran's HF 3356, a bill that would provide grants to school districts to address trauma issues.  This year's bill is slightly different than the version considered last session, but the basic thought behind the bill remains the same:  childhood trauma has become a major issue in many schools and this grant program would help provide needed staff development and other services to address the effects of trauma.  The House Education Policy Committee heard five bills, the two most prominent bills were authored by Representative Heather Edelson.  HF 3106 would create a standardized assessment task force and HF 3107 would allow an innovation zone partner district to use a nationally-recognized high school academic assessment (likely the ACT) instead of the MCAs.

February Forecast In and It's More Good News.  Minnesota Management and Budget released its February forecast today and the numbers show the state has added $181 million to the projected surplus for the remainder of the biennium bringing the total to just over $1.5 billion.  Legislative battle lines, already drawn last week, appear to have been fortified by the news, with Republicans calling for tax cuts and DFLers advocating increased spending focused on early childhood programs.  The Governor has not given a comprehensive response to the uptick (that will likely be coming in the next week, expressed by his supplemental budget proposal). It's always important to remember that the forecast is merely that:  a forecast.  The trends that have contributed to the forecast number were all prior to the spread of the coronavirus, which has driven the stock market sharply downward this week and may create economic shockwaves that could slow growth and drive future forecasts downward.  Given the possible lingering economic effects related to the coronavirus, I wouldn't be surprised to see caution become the watchword for the remainder of the 2020 legislative session.

Excellent Hearing on English Learner Formula Today.  The House Education Finance Division hearing HF 448--Representative Kaohly Her's bill that would dramatically increase the English Learner formula--this morning.  I have always believed that the English Learner formula is the education funding formula with the greatest amount of formula "integrity."  The recipients of English Language instruction are easily identified.  The staff used to provide the instruction to these students is likewise clearly identifiable.  The exit criteria for students to leave the program are also clear.  There is no other formula in Minnesota's array of education funding streams in which costs can be so readily and accurately traced.  The problem is that the English Learner formula is so woefully underfunded.  There is currently a shortfall in the amount of revenue provided for language instruction to English Learners and the reported costs of providing these services exceeding $100 million per year and these costs fall on districts throughout the state.  Whether there will be money to at least partially correct this unfortunate funding shortfall this year remains to be seen, but this issue was also discussed at length by the Education Funding Working Group currently developing funding proposals for the 2021 legislative session and hopefully addressing this issue will be near the top of the list in that group's recommendations.

Senate Equalization Proposal.  I reported earlier in the week that the Senate Republican caucus has included referendum equalization in its comprehensive tax relief package and that proposal was introduced as legislation--SF 3533--on Monday, February 24.  It's the first section of that bill, so it is easy to find.  The proposal is very straightforward.  It raises the first tier equalizing factor from $567,000 per pupil of referendum market value to $650,000 per resident pupil unit of referendum market value.  The second tier equalizing factor is raised from $290,000 of referendum market value per resident pupil unit to $320,000 of referendum market value per resident pupil unit.  The proposal costs approximately $19 million per year and it would come in the form of property tax relief.  Thanks should go to Senate Tax Chair Senator Roger Chamberlain who has been a strong and consistent supporter of referendum equalization.  Hopefully, more progress can be made this session to augment that $10 million put into the program in 2019.

Another Horrid and Avoidable Student Injury.  Less than 48 hours after the Senate Transportation Committee held a compelling hearing complete with chilling testimony and video evidence relating to drivers ignoring school bus stop-arms, a 7-year-old St. Paul student lies in critical condition in a St. Paul hospital after a driver ignored a school bus with the stop-arm extended and the 8-way warning lights activated and stuck the student in the crosswalk on his way to boarding the bus.  As I wrote earlier in the week, I have worked on this issue for quite a long time and I constantly marvel at the fact that there are over 100,000 stop-arm violations per year (relatively few are prosecuted) and the number of violations shows no indication of abating.  In Tuesday's hearing, it was obvious there may be momentum to funding an extensive public education program to bring greater awareness to the stop-arm law and the today's unfortunate incident is evidence that it is needed and needed now.

StarTribune: St. Paul 7-year-old critical after he's struck while walking to his bus

WCCO TV: Boy, 7, Critically Injured By Motorist While Attempting To Board School Bus, Driver Cooperating With Police

School Bus Safety Hearing was Awesome!  The Senate Transportation Committee held a riveting meeting on Tuesday on the issue of school bus safety and the plague of stop-arm violations that threaten the safety of students throughout Minnesota.  The hearing featured a number of videos taken from school bus cameras that show serial stop-arm violations, some of which almost killed students boarding the bus.  Those videos will be linked in the news stories I am including in this entry.

The testimony provided by transportation directors, bus contractors, and bus drivers was extremely compelling.  Jim Perrotti--a school bus driver for the Zumbrota-Mazeppa school district--was direct and emotional when describing the near-miss of a student by a speeding driver who ignored an extended stop-arm.  Video of that incident is included in the story below.  There was also testimony from a group from Paynesville regarding an incident where a semi-truck passed a bus on the right--the side of the bus where students enter the vehicle--when a student was boarding (also featured in a video below).  Edina transportation director David White described a recent incident when a student was hit by a driver ignoring an extended stop-arm.  The student survived, but did sustain injuries.

Senator Rich Draheim is the author of SF 1050, a bill that would appropriate $50,000 for the creation of a school bus stop-arm awareness program through the development of a set of public service announcements aimed at educating drivers on this important issue.  There was $40,000 for this purpose in the 2018 mega-ginormous thousand-page supplemental funding and policy bill that was vetoed by Governor Dayton and hopefully the supplemental funding and policy bills will be constructed in a way that will make gubernatorial approval less complicated.

I have worked with the student transportation industry for over 20 years and I can say that the entire industry is gratified by the interest shown over the past few sessions on the issue of school bus safety and in particular, the stop-arm violation issue.  There are over 100,000 stop-arm violations each year in Minnesota, but only a small fraction of those are prosecuted due to the difficulty of getting license plate numbers on the offending vehicles.  Enhanced technology and the installation of cameras on stop-arms would help with that, but a comprehensive driver-education effort may yield even better results.  I don't know if anything can be done about driver arrogance, but an education program would help with driver ignorance.  Hopefully, the House Transportation Committee will take up the companion to SF 1050--HF 1010 authored by Representative Alice Hausman--and fund this important program.

Here is news coverage of yesterday's hearing.  Several of the videos are quite chilling, so be forewarned.

Duluth News-Tribune: 'It's a miracle a kid hasn't been killed': Lawmakers look to increase school bus safety awareness

StarTribune: Legislators want to improve school bus safety

WCCO TV: Minnesota Senate Republicans Say Many Drivers Are Ignoring School Bus Stop Arms

In closing, I just wanted to give everyone a quick reminder that today (Wednesday) is National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day, so whether you're a student, parent, teacher, or school administrator, take some time to recognize your bus drivers for the difficult job they do.  From the testimony presented at yesterday's hearing, it's obvious how much bus drivers care about the important job they perform.  It's important to remember that for many students, the bus driver is the first school employee they see in the morning and the last one they see at the end of the school day.  They set the tone and they set it well, so how about some love for your school bus drivers.

Interesting Hearing in Senate Today.  The Senate E-12 Finance and Policy Committee tackled the reading issue today and the key word (or acronym) is LETRS.  LETRS stands for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling.  LETRS is a nationally-recognized suite of staff development products that has shown to help improve reading scores in states and school districts where it is employed.

The hearing started out with a reports from Dr. Christy Hovanetz, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, and Dr. Amy Schulting, the Dyslexia Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Education.  The verdict in both reports is that Minnesota's scores are solid for white students, but scores for students of color lag behind national averages, which is the primary contributor to the achievement gap that exists in Minnesota.

Given this background, Senator (and Committee Chair) Carla Nelson has introduced SF 2989 and SF 2990, bills that would direct revenue toward LETRS from the compensatory formula and literacy incentive aid to provide staff development to all teachers of reading in the state.  It is important to note that the portion of the compensatory formula that would be re-directed is currently dedicated toward extended time aid.  As was made clear during the hearing, it is not compensatory revenue in its entirety.  This is different from the literacy incentive aid, all of which would go toward these staff development efforts.  After adopting some clarifying amendments, Senator Nelson combined her two bills into one bill and will move it forward in that fashion.  It is also important to point out that this bill has no price tag as it only changes policy as it relates to a portion of a district's compensatory revenue and it's literacy incentive aid.

The committee also heard Senator Roger Chamberlain's bill--SF 3187--that would appropriate $1,000,000 to be dispensed to districts in the form of grants to provide staff development under LETRS.

It all looks good.  One problem that might occur is that the statutes rarely designate a provider when creating a grant program.  There are creative ways around that problem, but it is doubtful (at least from my experience) that there would be a mandate that spelled out LETRS as the provider.

Here is a link to the LETRS program.  The program is a bit on the pricey side when it comes to cost/teacher, but there is no question that it is highly regarded and is showing results where employed.

LETRS

Constitutional Amendment Introduced in the House.  It seems like just yesterday (Hey! It was just yesterday.) when I wrote that the proposed constitutional amendment promoted by retired Justice Alan Page and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neil Kashkari had yet to be introduced.  Voila!  It was introduced today as HF 3658, with St. Paul area Representative Rena Moran serving as chief author.  There are 33 authors and 25 are Republicans.  I don't know the calculus on that and it will be interesting to see the mix of Senate authorship.  Stay tuned.

Second Week Highlights.  It's the time in the non-budget year of the biennium when things are moving both slowly and quickly at the same time.  There hasn't been a lot of talk about funding across the entire budget, which is to be expected in the non-budget year.  The February forecast comes out in the next week or so and all expectations are that the budget numbers will remain favorable, especially for the remainder of this biennium.  The dicey part is projecting budget numbers into the next biennium, where up to this point, the cost of inflation absorbs almost all of the projected surplus.  Both sides are proposing items--tax cuts in the Senate, increases in spending (especially in the area of early childhood) in the House--and it remains to be seen how those differences can be reconciled.  It further remains to be seen what the Governor will propose as part of his supplemental budget, which is rumored to be very modest.

The Senate E-12 Finance and Policy Committee heard from retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neil Kashkari provided a brief presentation on the proposed constitutional amendment they have been promoting last Monday.  There wasn't a lot of discussion of the proposal and while it is early in the session, the groundwork for serious legislative discussion has yet to be laid.  There's plenty of time left in the session, but a bill with the amendment's proposed language has yet to be introduced and the first policy committee deadline falls on March 13, leaving only three weeks for it to remain alive (at least formally) during the 2020 legislative session.  Not meeting the committee deadline wouldn't necessarily kill the proposal, but given that there does not seem to be universal acceptance of the approach and the possibility of amendment and negotiation between the House and Senate if the proposal were to pass each house of the Legislature in a different form makes the amendment's prospects a bit dicey at the current time.  Again, just because it sits where it does right now doesn't preclude it getting moved--and moved successfully--during the 2020 session.  It just makes passage more unlikely with each passing day.

The Senate also received a comprehensive presentation on Minnesota's education funding framework and how it stacks up when compared to the rate of inflation and the levels of funding in other states.  On Wednesday, the committee heard from a variety of "turnaround" schools that have shown dramatic improvements in academic performance.

The House Education Finance Division has spent its hearing receiving testimony from organizations that received grants last session.  The testimony has been quite interesting and has shown that good things can happen when creative approaches to education are funded.

The House Education Policy Committee has been taking testimony on individual bills that may either find their way into an omnibus education bill or travel on their own to the House floor.  Compelling testimony was heard on Wednesday in support of Representative Mary Kunesh-Podein's HF 3201, which would expand the Teachers of Color Act by providing additional funding to put more people of color in front of Minnesota students.  On Tuesday, the committee spent considerable time on Representative Heather Edelson's bills relating to the prevention of vaping.  Representative Edelson's HF 3164 would expend $250,000 for grants to individual school districts to discourage vaping.  Her HF 3166 would require school districts to provide instruction to make students aware of vaping and to prevent its use.

Attention on Equalization.  It's been a good week for the topic of equalization. Whether anything comes of the welcome attention remains to be seen, the issue did come up in two separate venues last week.  On Thursday night at the Minnesota Department of Education's session of the Education Finance Working Group, South St. Paul superintendent Dave Webb and Finance Director Aaron Bushberger gave a stellar presentation on the issue, providing a great example of the disadvantage property taxpayers in low property wealth districts face when attempting to augment state funding for operations or for building projects.  Kudos to both of them on a job well done.

The next day, the Senate Republican caucus announced that referendum equalization will be part of their $1.3 billion tax relief proposal they hope to pass during the 2020 legislative session.  The linked article from the StarTribune (Minnesota Senate GOP: Turn surplus into tax cuts) doesn't mention equalization, but in conversations with Senate staff, the equalization effort would spend approximately $20 million per year and would give districts the option of using either resident pupil units or pupil units served when calculating their levy ratio.  Here is the press release outlining the proposal:  Get your billion back, Minnesota!

The pace will be picking up in the next two weeks as the first committee deadline is March 6.  That likely means some night meetings to get as much legislation through their policy committees by this deadline.  As I said above in my discussion of the proposed constitutional amendment, missing the deadline isn't fatal, but it usually puts the subject in the legislative equivalent of the intensive care unit.  I hope to provide more insight as things take shape.

First Week in the Books.  The 2020 Legislative Session began on Tuesday, February 11, and while things aren't off to a rollicking start (I expect the rollicking to begin shortly), the differing priorities between the two legislative bodies are taking shape.  It's difficult to know where these lines will land in terms of the K-12 portion of the budget, but the House of Representatives has proposed a significant investment in early childhood education with $190 earmarked for scholarships for children between the ages of 0 and 3 and another $22 million in one-time money for child care provider support.  The proposal also calls for a continuation of the 4,000 pre-kindergarten slots funding through the School Readiness Plus program, which costs an additional $60 million.  There's no word yet on how the Senate will react to this proposal, but there have been no indications that this will be a high priority in the Senate, where the proposed income tax cut on Social Security benefits looks to be taking center stage.

Here are two MPR articles on the House Early Education proposal:

MN House Democrats seek more early childhood funding (MPR, 2/6)

House Democrats want to spend surplus on early childhood (MPR, 2/13)

Here is a link to the Senate's Priority List.  The story is more than a month old and the only education item mentioned is that of Opportunity Scholarships:

Minnesota Senate GOP rolls out its 2020 agenda (StarTribune, 1/13)

Item of Conversation #1.  While talk at the Legislature regarding the proposed constitutional amendment being aggressively advocated by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neil Kashkari and retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page hasn't picked up yet, it will likely enter the debate at some juncture.  As mentioned in the article linked above outlining the priorities of the Minnesota Senate majority, this item was absent from their to-do list.  Majority Leader Gazelka's early skepticism has waned a bit, but it still likely faces an uphill battle on that side of the legislative street (not that it will be any less steep in the House's wing of the Capitol).  But that doesn't mean there hasn't been activity on the part of the proponents.  Both President Kashkari and Justice Page have been making the rounds in the Minnesota Senate Building and the State Office Building and that will likely continue up until the committee deadlines (and perhaps beyond).

Here are links to two recent articles regarding the effort:

Minnesota business leaders launch push for constitutional amendment on education (StarTribune, 2/11)

What’s happening with the Page-Kashkari proposal for a constitutional right to ‘quality public education’ (MinnPost, 2/14)

Stay tuned on this one.

Item of Conversation #2 (Civics, Civics, Civics).  One education area that will be discussed is that of civics.  Much has been said about the lack of basic knowledge of government and political life exhibited by today's high school students and that will also enter into the discussion this session.  The Senate Education Funding and Policy Committee held a hearing the week before session and took testimony from nearly 20 citizen groups outlining their concerns about the state of civics education in Minnesota (and the rest of the country).  Minnesota currently requires that students take the 50 question citizenship test, but passing it is not a requirement for graduation.  Legislation has been introduced that would not change that, but would require districts to report the percentage of students that passed the test.  Senate Education Funding and Policy Chair Carla Nelson is the author of the Senate bill that was introduced on Thursday (Representative Dean Urdahl is the House author of the yet-to-be-introduced bill in the House), so the bill is likely to be heard.

Here is a link to the bill:  SF 2964

Below is an editorial from the StarTribune regarding the bill and their take on the state of civics education in Minnesota.

Legislature should make civics education a priority for schools

Equalization Bill Introduced.  HF 3171--SEE's 2020 Equalization Bill--has been introduced.  The House author is Representative John Huot, who represents the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district.  Senator Carla Nelson will be carrying the Senate companion, which will likely be introduced on Thursday, February 20.

The mechanics of the bill are straightforward.  The equalization factor was increased last session for taxes payable in 2020 and HF 3171 would increase it further and then index the equalizing factor to 125% of the statewide average referendum market value per resident pupil unit.  The cost of the bill is $40 million per year in property tax relief to districts with referendum market value per resident pupil unit of 125% of the statewide average.  Currently, 125% of the statewide average is approximately $750,000 of referendum market value per resident pupil unit.

Here is a link to HF 3171:  HF 3171

Update on Proposed Constitutional Amendment.  Last Monday (1/13), a forum on the proposed constitutional amendment was held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis to give proponents an opportunity to explain the reasoning behind the proposal and the need for it.  It was a star-studded day and the panels and the keynote address from Attorney General Keith Ellison were energetic and insightful.  Attorney General Ellison's address was especially powerful and hit on a number of key points outlining the need for change.

There are a lot of reasonable arguments for the amendment, but one I am having trouble getting my head around is that the education clause in the Minnesota Constitution hasn't been changed since 1857.  That's certainly true, but I don't know if that, in and of itself, is a reason to amend the Constitution.  Constitutions aren't documents to be trifled with and while change may be in order, the fact that the education clause hasn't been amended to this point in Minnesota history.

From my vantage point, the primary change is moving from the idea of a "system" of education to a student-based fundamental right.  The fundamental right to an education in Minnesota was established by the Skeen decision, but the proposed amendment would formalize that in the new language.  

Another change would spring from the need to define "quality" in the proposed amendment.  Most education funding litigation deals with adequate and/or equitable funding and there's over fifty years of state court law through which courts have become comfortable with measuring state systems against those standards.  Moving to "quality" would require courts to grapple with a new paradigm and that might (and I stress "might") require a round or two of litigation for the court to develop a constitutional definition of "quality."  Another aspect of "quality" is that it could reach into areas not traditionally thought of as open to litigation.  I think of teacher licensure as an example.

Here are a couple of other resources to consult as discussion of the proposed Constitutional amendment ensues.  Former St. Cloud school board member and school litigation expert Jerry von Korff blogs on education issues and he has two insightful entries on the current effort to amend the Minnesota Constitution.  His blog can be found at:

jvonkorff on Education

Here is a link to the Skeen v. Minnesota decision.  I was looking for a more user-friendly on-line document, but this is the best I could do.  If you scroll down, you can see Justice Page's dissent, much of which is echoed in his comments on the proposed Constitutional amendment.

Skeen v. Minnesota

Congrats to Dr. Deb Henton.  North Branch superintendent and SEE Executive Board member Dr. Deb Henton has been named the new Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, succeeding Dr. Gary Amoroso, who will be retiring on June 30.  Dr. Henton will be sorely missed for her work with SEE and I know the folks in North Branch feel the same way.  Her contributions to SEE as a member of the Executive Board, a consistent participant on the Legislative Committee, and as the organization's Secretary have been considerable and crucial to our success.  Her record as superintendent is also superlative as she guided North Branch during challenging times.  I know I speak for everyone involved with SEE when I wish her the best as she takes on her next challenge.

I guess this pic says it all as out-going MASA Executive Director Gary Amoroso gives in-coming Executive Director Deb Henton her Superintendent of the Year award back in 2018.

Getting Started in 2020.  There's probably not a more appropriate day to kick off blogging for 2020 than Elvis Presley's 85th birthday (we know from the World Weekly News that he's still alive, so have a good one Elvis!).  In honor of the day, here's a pic to mark the celebration.

While it wasn't a work by Elvis, the Legislature is getting ready to "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" with their convening a little more than a month from now on Tuesday, February 11.  The November budget forecast was positive with just over an additional billion on the plus side of the bottom line going into the 2020 session.  The outlook for the next biennium is also positive, with a projected surplus of approximately $700 million beyond inflation available.  

The positive economic picture will certainly fuel discussion during the 2020 session (Duh!).  There will be a push by some to fund programs that fell by the wayside during the waning days of the 2019 session along with advocacy for tax cuts.  Seeing it is not an official budget year (it seems that in recent years, every year is a budget year), there will likely be resistance to pursuing any spending that will have implications for the next biennium.  That probably means another adventure in loggerheads even though agreement on a significant-sized bonding bill is very likely.

So, buckle up!  With a month to go before the live verbal ammunition starts to fly, now is a great time to contact your legislators and tell them your story.  There's still time to get them out to your school sites to see first-hand what your needs--funding and otherwise--are.

Constitutional Amendment Chatter.  Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page and Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neil Kashkari are proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that would replace the current education clause.  The current education clause reads as:

UNIFORM SYSTEM OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.

The proposed language would read as follows:

EQUAL RIGHT TO QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION. All children have a fundamental right to a quality public education that fully prepares them with the skills necessary for participation in the economy, our democracy, and society, as measured against uniform achievement standards set forth by the state. It is the paramount duty of the state to ensure quality public schools that fulfill this fundamental right.

As the organization whose members largely composed the plaintiffs in the Skeen v. Minnesota lawsuit, SEE obviously has great interest in this effort.  SEE (then ASGSD) considered pursuing a constitutional amendment after the Skeen decision was reversed in favor of the state at the Supreme Court level, but that path was not chosen and instead, it was decided to concentrate on legislative efforts to enhance the equalization programs that were enacted in the early-1990s in the interregnum between the decision in favor of the plaintiffs--a set of individual ASGSD members--and the reversal of that decision by the Supreme Court in favor of the State and a set of intervening school districts. 

First off, it's great to see the term "fundamental right" in the proposed language.  The fundamental right to an education in Minnesota was established by Skeen, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction to formalize that language.  Further, the proposed language does add more structure to the current clause by speaking to the need for "skills."  What gives me pause (at least at the moment) is the mention of uniform achievement standards as set by the state.  Minnesota's achievement gap is clearly a major issue and directing resources to close that gap should be among, if not paramount in, the state's top education funding and policy goals.  My concern is that if we continue to concentrate solely on test scores as an indicator of educational equity, it remains an incomplete picture of what is required in terms of the "skills necessary for participation in the economy, our democracy, and society" as mentioned in the proposed amendment.  I am curious to see what the proponents of the amendment see as the structure to deliver these standards and whether these standards are solely academic.

I am also curious about how this effort dovetails (or not) with the current litigation discussions going on in St. Cloud.  That effort also centers on the notion of a fundamental right to a quality education and the current lack of funding to assure that fundamental right.  Further, given the working group convened by the Minnesota Department of Education with the goal of revamping Minnesota's education funding formulas, I will be curious to see if talk of the proposed amendment has any influence on those discussions.

I think the bottom line is that Skeen was filed over 30 years ago and the final Supreme Court decision (of which Justice Page was in dissent) and there have been seismic shifts in the state's demography and population distribution since then.  Given those changes, a discussion of updating the Minnesota Constitution is in order.  There are always questions as to where the discussion will head and it's always important to remember that the Legislature will retain considerable leeway in deciding how to work under any new constitutional framework, so changing the constitution won't bring current efforts on the level and distribution of funding (and delivery systems) to a screeching halt.

All this said, I think it is incumbent upon all sectors of the education enterprise to monitor this effort and find ways to provide input and get answers.

Here is a link to a webpage that contains a lot of information about this effort.

A constitutional amendment to transform education in Minnesota

Below is a link to the StarTribune story on the proposed amendment.

To close Minnesota's achievement gap, two leaders propose amending state Constitution

Adequacy Lawsuit Filed.  The St. Cloud NAACP and the St. Cloud Educational Rights Advocacy Council filed suit in February in the Stearns County District court in an effort to combat the chronic underfunding of special education that has plagued St. Cloud (and districts throughout the state) and the court will be hearing oral arguments tomorrow.  Former St. Cloud School Board Member Jerry Von Korff has been a long-time proponent of investigating the possibility of litigation of this type and the continued failure to make significant headway in reducing the special education cross-subsidy triggered this action.  I have attached a link from The St. Cloud Times regarding the upcoming hearing.

Is special education underfunding a constitutional violation? Court to hear arguments Friday

Compensatory Education Funding Discussed.  The Minneapolis StarTribune had a front-page story in last Sunday's paper outlining the issue of compensatory education funding and how the achievement gap persists even with this funding.  The issue of Minnesota's racial academic achievement gap has been an item of intense discussion over the past two decades and the increase in compensatory education funding during this time is aimed at remedying that situation.  Along with increased compensatory revenue, many have promoted charter schools, more parent choice, and other reforms to address this gap.  Unfortunately, nothing has seemed to make a dent in differences in achievement.

The article spoke with a number of school officials and educators about the challenge and how the current level of compensatory revenue falls short of what is spent on services to address the racial achievement gap.   Often times, the revenue is used to pay for revenue shortfalls resulting from the underfunding of other formulas--particularly the English Language Learner formula--to make those services whole.  Superintendent Anne-Marie Foucault from SEE member district St. Michael-Albertville outlined her concerns over funding in the article.  St. Michael-Albertville is not a district that one would ordinarily think would run a shortfall when addressing student achievement issues, but the compensatory formula is so inadequate for that district that it spent four times the amount of basic skills revenue it received on programs to narrow achievement differences.  Districts that receive higher levels of basic skills revenue have problems of similar magnitude.

The article points out some of the disparities in the distribution of the formula and it's not my place to comment on how the formula works.  Concentration of poverty is certainly an adequate basis for having greater funding in the urban core and regional centers where diversity--especially language diversity--is growing rapidly.  I believe the question boils down to how much of a discrepancy should there be and points are made on both sides of that issue in the article.

Transparency of expenditures is also an issue and that was at the heart of Representative Sondra Erickson's request that the Legislative Auditor look into the issue further and try to get a better handle on the tracking of basic skills revenue.  As a former legislative staffer (lo, though many years ago) who was part of discussions on what should be the allowable uses of compensatory revenue, I can attest it's not that straightforward of a question.

There was talk during the session that the Governor may convene a working group during the interim to look at possible reforms to the education funding system.  Basic Skills/Compensatory Revenue would likely be a big part of that discussion in terms of amount, distribution, and allowable expenditures.  Stay tuned.

Here is a link to the article (nice job Anne-Marie):  $600M A YEAR, YET ACHIEVEMENT GAP PERSISTS  (I'm not shouting!  I copied the headline and it was all caps.  They are shouting.  Not me.)

Equalization Part of Final Tax Agreement.  With all of the talk about the funding increases in the E-12 bill, not much was said about the just under $10 million that was contained in the tax bill for referendum equalization.  It's below what we were hoping for and less than what was either in the House or Senate initiatives passed by the respective bodies (House $25 million in their E-12 omnibus bill and Senate $15 million in their tax bill), but it clearly is a step in the right direction and it is greatly appreciated.  The tax relief is accomplished through an increase in the now first-tier equalizing factor from $510,000 in referendum market value per pupil unit to $567,000 in referendum market value per pupil unit.

As measured annually by the Minnesota Department of Education, the gap between districts at the 5th and 95th percentile of funding in the categories of the operating referendum, local option revenue, equity revenue, and transition revenue is widening again after being narrowed dramatically by changes made during the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions when the $300/PU board-approved operating referendum was established and the $424/PU local option revenue was made uniform for all districts.  Narrowing that gap will likely fall to individual districts passed voter-approved levies.  The increased equalizing factor will not deliver relief to districts that will now be at zero in referendum authority (the $300 per pupil unit board-approved referendum and the $424 per pupil unit local option revenue has now been combined into a single category of local option revenue equalized at the current rates for each of the previous categories), but as those districts seek to pass new referendum authority, those districts below $567,000 in referendum market value per pupil unit will receive some measure of state aid.

The challenge for low property wealth districts going forward will be to further increase the equalizing factors across-the-board and then have those factors indexed to averages in statewide property wealth growth.

Here is a data run for the increase in referendum equalization.  The increased aid is found in the column labeled "Q".

District-by-District Referendum Equalization Aid Increase Run