Saturday, February 14, 2015

Oops.  Got a little backed up and didn't blog yesterday, so here comes the wrap-up from Thursday's House Education Innovation Policy Committee hearing on HF 2--the comprehensive teacher licensing and evaluation legislation introduced by Representative Jenifer Loon--and bill introductions from Thursday's sessions in the House and Senate.

The first education-related night meeting of the year took place on Thursday evening with the House Education Innovation Committee discussing HF 2 and considering several amendments offered to the bill.  I don't think you are going to find too many education-related bills where well-meaning people have come to almost diametrically opposed views on the bill.  One side views it as a punitive bill that simply seeks to dismiss teachers deemed as underperforming and open up the field to unqualified community experts who are sadly lacking in teaching skills.  The other side views it as an effort to help relieve teacher shortages by making it easier for community experts to teach, clarifying requirements for teachers with licenses in other states, and raising student performance by ensuring that the most qualified teachers are in classrooms throughout the state.  I have grossly oversimplified the discussion by presenting the most extreme poles of the debate and ignoring the vast intellectual space between these poles, but the tug-and-pull over the bill seems to gravitate toward one of these two camps.  The DFL minority caucus offered three amendments to the bill on Thursday evening, but all were defeated on straight party-line votes, which leaves the bill's primary provisions untouched and as controversial--at least in the minds of some--as ever.  While the concentration on the elimination of "last in/first out" in determining sequence in  the unrequested leave-of-absence process, there is a lot more to this bill that has escaped the public's scrutiny.  It will be interesting to see if that remains the case as the bill moves forward.  For now, the bill has been recommended to pass by the House Education Innovation Policy Committee and is now being re-referred to the House Education Finance Committee.  That usually signals that the bill will be folded into the Omnibus Education Funding bill, which is increasingly likely this year as this particular bill is not moving at all in the Senate.  Putting it into the Omnibus Education Funding bill ensures that it will be discussed at part of the final negotiations at the end of the session.  So, buckle up and bone up on the provisions in this bill.  We're going to hear more about them.

Feud Emerging?  The big story to hit the airwaves on Friday is the tiff between Governor Dayton and his fellow DFLers in the Senate majority.  It's been awhile since we've had one of these because Governor Dayton is the first DFL Governor since 1990 (two terms of Republicans Arne Carlson and Tim Pawlenty forming a sandwich around Independent Jesse Ventura), but as someone who was around during former Governor Rudy Perpich's terms from 1982 until 1990, this is really nothing new.  I thought Blois Olson's "get your popcorn" comment kind of sums things up aptly.  Who knows whether this continues or how acrimonious it gets, but I got a close-up view of the tensions between the Perpich Administration and the DFL legislature over open enrollment, PSEO, and the art school back in the late-1980s, and it's part of the process.  The largest complication may come over how hard the Governor pushes for some of his budget and tax initiatives and seeing he has the bully pulpit and the veto pen and the Legislature doesn't have the votes to override any vetoes.  Just another thing to watch as the session continues.

Bill Introductions.
Senate

SF 720 -- Dahms -- Allows Lac Qui Parle School District to start school before Labor Day in 2015-2016 -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF720&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0


SF 740 -- Pratt -- Requires that special education student reporting systems must have a universal filing system and repeals legislation passed in 2014 calling for the development of a single online vendor for these purposes -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF740&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0


SF 759 -- Jensen -- Creates teacher loan forgiveness program for teaching candidates in areas of teacher shortage -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF759&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

SF 767 -- Jensen -- Clarifies Minnesota teaching requirements for teaching candidates with licenses granted in another state -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF767&b=senate&y=2015&ssn=0

SF 788 -- Torres Ray -- Increases general education basic revenue, extended day revenue, English language revenue, and revenue for universal pre-kindergarten programs -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF788&b=senate&y=2015&ssn=0

SF 793 -- Newman -- Allows districts to use alternative tax base for debt service levies -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF793&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0


SF 822 -- Stumpf -- Provides alternative compensation revenue for all districts currently not participating in the program -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF822&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

House

HF 768 -- Schomacker -- Exempts Hendricks from tuition reciprocity agreement -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF768&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

HF 774 -- Kiel -- Enhances access to online college courses in high school settings -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF774&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0



HF 789 -- Bly -- Directs Board of Teaching to develop standards for project-based learning -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF789&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

HF 796 -- Swedzinski -- Allows Lac Qui Parle school district to start 2015-2016 school year before Labor Day -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF796&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

HF 798 -- Knoblach -- Expands education tax credit to include private school tuition -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF798&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

HF 804 -- Christensen -- Requires that special education student reporting systems must have a universal filing system and repeals legislation passed in 2014 calling for the development of a single online vendor for these purposes -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF804&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0


HF 838 -- Christensen -- Increases revenue for equity in telecommunications access -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF838&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0





HF 857 -- Marquart -- Enhances capital projects referendum per the recommendations of the School Facilities Finance working group recommendations -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF857&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

HF 858 -- Pierson -- Appropriates revenue for collaborative urban educator program -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF858&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

HF 859 -- Kresha -- Provides grant to Minnesota Council on Economic Education -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF859&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0

HF 860 -- Marquart -- Expands deferred maintenance program per the recommendations of the School Facilities Finance working group recommendations -- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF860&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
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