Quick Post for Monday, February 13. Not a lot to report for today. The Senate Education meeting covered SF 1690 (Wolf-R-Spring Lake Park), the bill that would allow school districts to lay off teachers according to their performance as opposed to seniority. It is the companion to HF 1870 (B. Petersen-R-Andover) which passed out of the House Education Policy Committee last Thursday evening. The testifiers and testimony was almost a carbon copy of what was seen in the House Education Policy Committee. The only deviation was testimony from the Foley school district that highlighted a "bargained" unrequested leave-of-absence system between the district's teachers and the school board. Time ran out, so there will be additional testimony later this week or early next week. As in the case of the House bill, the Senate bill will be traveling on its own and will not be part of a larger omnibus bill. As it stands right now, obtaining the Governor's signature may prove difficult, as a letter from Commissioner Cassellius to the bill's authors outlines some deep concerns she--and by extension the Governor--has with the bill. Stay tuned.

Speaking of the Commissioner. After obtaining a waiver from NCLB for Minnesota, I've decided that all Minnesota sports franchises should be re-named "The Commissioners," as she is undefeated while Minnesota's teams aren't faring nearly as well. Seriously, congratulations to the Commissioner and MDE staff for fashioning a proposal that will create an accountability system that is more applicable to Minnesota's needs while ensuring a broad range of quality measurements.