Relatively Quiet Tuesday.  While education-related committees have time slots on Tuesday, only one--the House Education Innovation Policy Committee--chose to meet.  Representative Sondra Erickson's committee covered three reports from the Minnesota Department of Education.  The first dealt with how school districts are doing with the World's Best Workforce Report.  The second dealt with an annual report on Minnesota's special education program, detailing the number of students in each disability category along with information related to the new funding formula.  The end of the report details the Governor's recommendation that an additional $40 million be invested in the per pupil component of the special education formula (that currently has a number of different components and hold-harmlesses--is harmlesses a word?).  The last report centered on third grade reading results.

The documents distributed by the Minnesota Department of Education are all available on the Committee website:

House Education Innovation Policy Homepage

Simply go to the Tuesday, January 31, meeting agenda in the far right-hand column.

One thing I have seen thus far this session is that committees don't meet for the sake of meeting.  If there are mandated reports, presentations by the administration or legislative staff, or bills to be heard, the committees meet.  But they haven't been meeting simply to re-hash subjects that have been re-hashed mightily over the past few years.  It appears that while there will obviously be conflict at some point between the Governor and the Legislature over philosophical differences, it doesn't appear that the Legislature will be loading up omnibus bills simply to have them punted back by the Governor through his veto power.  Of course, it's still early.  We're a little over a month in and everyone seems intent on making the situation work.

I guess I'll invoke a bad analogy.  Every legislative session is like a jigsaw puzzle and the first thing that needs to be done for it to run smoothly is complete the border.  Regardless of the composition of the Legislature and which party controls the Governor's office, there will always be those pesky sky pieces and flower bed patterns that make successful construction of the puzzle tricky, but once the border is constructed, the outer limits of the scene are established.  With the Governor's budget presented and the Legislature working up its response, the border is almost complete and things will be taking shape shortly.

Monday Morning (You Look so Fine).  Thought I'd kick off the week with a relatively obscure Fleetwood Mac lyric.  Monday is a pretty quiet day in the education world, with only one committee meeting to go along with the House and Senate floor sessions where bills are introduced.  Today's meeting in the Senate E-12 Finance Committee featured presentations from a variety of Career and Technical Education programs from around the state.  The testimony from each of the groups was similar, with a special point made by the business owners who presented that they are having trouble finding workers.  One of the on-going problems that seems to be related to this whole issue (and it was mentioned today) is that some segments of the business community seem to constantly push for more and more testing while others point out that they need workers.  While there is some congruence between the two viewpoints, I have yet to be convinced that forcing high school juniors to take (and re-take and re-take) a mathematics examination that tests skills that they will never use.  It was pointed out by one of the groups testifying that one of the barriers preventing more students from being able to enroll in career and technical programs is that they have to devote more time to clearing up problems on the academic side of their school ledgers.  Hopefully, some of these things can be ironed out because there are a lot of very good jobs waiting for students who could take care of a good portion of their post-secondary career training while still in high school.

BILL INTRODUCTIONS

House

HF 602-S. Anderson-Makes Pre-Kindergarten Expenses Eligible for the Minnesota Education Tax Credit

HF 625-Youakim-Increases Community Education Basic Formula

HF 627-Peterson-Increases Referendum Equalization

HF 640-Davnie-Establishes Professional Educators Standards Board

HF 646-Bennett-Appropriates Money for Minnesota Reading Corps

HF 652-Kresha-Allows School District to Renew a Food Services Agreement Three Additional Times

HF 654-Drazkowski-Limits Election Days for Some Voter-Approved Levies

HF 668-Daniels-Creates Position of Dyslexia Specialist in the Minnesota Department of Education

Senate

SF 442-P. Anderson-Appropriates Money for Minnesota Math Corps

SF 443-Nelson-Appropriates Money for Minnesota Reading Corps

SF 453-Chamberlain-Creates Position of Dyslexia Specialist in the Minnesota Department of Education

SF 468-Utke-Requires Personal Learning Plan for Students Not Reading at Grade Level by Third Grade

SF 489-Nelson-Makes Compensatory Pilot Project Permanent

SF 494-Lang-qualifyies Specific On-site Education Programs Located at a Care and Treatment Facility as Learning Year Programs

Oops!  I apologize for not putting together a blog entry last Thursday.  Things got a little backed up.  Thursday featured two education-related hearings.  The first was in the House Education Innovation Policy Committee, which covered Representative Jim Knoblach's HF 387 and Representative Sarah Anderson's HF 256.  Both of these bills would expand the definition of eligible expenditures and income levels for Minnesota's education tax credit.  Representative Knoblach's HF 387 would also increase the value of the tuition tax deduction.

The House Education Finance Committee also met and reviewed the Legislative Auditor's report on the Perpich Center for the Arts.  Like the previous hearings in both House and Senate, the committee delved into the lack of internal controls that were cited by the Legislative Auditor in its report.

Shout Out!  Congratulations to Cannon Falls High School Social Studies/History teacher Heather Loeschke on being named Minnesota's Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the Minnesota Council for Social Studies.  Loeschke was also named a James Madison Memorial Fellowship winner.  There are 58 award winners nationally, but Loeschke was the only Minnesota teacher to win a fellowship.  As a graduate of Cannon Falls High School, I'm always proud to point out the great things that are happening in my hometown.  So big-time props to Heather Loeschke whose dedication to the study of the US Constitution is simply awesome.

BILL INTRODUCTIONS

House

HF 489-Fenton-Grant for Minnesota Principals' Academy

HF 494-Wills-Changes Renewal Requirements for Academic and Behavioral Strategist (ABS) License

HF 535-Baker-Qualifies Specific On-site Education Programs at Care and Treatment Facilities as Learning Year Programs

HF 538-Christensen-Requires Personal Learning Plan for Students not Reading at Grade Level at Third Grade and Requires that Students who do not Meet High School Standards are Informed that Free Access to Public Education Continues to Age 21

HF 547-Fenton-Administration of Federal Child and Adult Care Food Program

HF 550-Koegel-Grant for Anoka-Hennepin School District for a Fabrication Laboratory for its Secondary Technical Education Program

HF 553-Dettmer-Regulates Disposition Schoolhouses and School Sites following Schoolhouse Closings

HF 558-Erickson-Promotes Innovative Delivery of Career and Technical Programs

HF 572-Lillie-Grants for Programs to Support Student Transitions from Middle School to High School

HF 577-Moran-Grants to Promote STEM Programs to Girls in Underrepresented Populations

Senate

SF 333-Wiger-Requires Nationally Normed College Entrance Examination for High School Graduation

SF 339-Newton-Grant for Anoka-Hennepin School District for a Fabrication Laboratory for its Secondary Technical Education Program

SF 351-Eken-Creates Agricultural Bond Credit

SF 389-Nelson-Prohibits Commissioner of Education from Designating Scholarships for use in Predetermined Qualifying Programs

Governor's Budget Presented.  The House and Senate education funding committees both devoted their committee time to presentation of the Governor's budget by Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.  The Governor has proposed over $600 million above base for the E-12 budget.  I outlined those proposed appropriations yesterday, but to refresh your memory, the largest commitment is a 2% increase in the basic formula in each of the next two years, a $75 million increase in the voluntary pre-kindergarten program, and $68 million for helping school districts pay the employers' share of the deficit in the TRA fund.  The Governor's tax proposal includes $60 million in increased debt service equalization to be phased-in over the next four years.

Here is a link to the document used by the Commissioner in her presentation.

Governor Dayton's 2017 E-12 Budget

MNSure Rebate Bill Negotiations Completed.   However one feels about the particulars, it may be a good sign that the Governor and Legislature came to agreement relatively quickly on the MNSure rebate issue.  There were obvious time constraints to get the work on the bill completed, but the way things have been going the past few years, deadlines haven't meant a whole lot and this may be a harbinger of greater cooperation throughout the session.

Governor's Budget Released.  A day after the State of the State Address, Governor Dayton released his 2018-2019 biennial budget.  The budget for education shows a strong overall commitment to the subject with additional funding for a wide range of programs.  Here are the change items in the Governor's budget for E-12.

• A 2% increase in the general education basic formula in each of the next two years.
• A considerable expansion of $75 million over the biennium in the voluntary all-day pre-kindergarten program more than doubling the number of participants from 3,000 in FY 17 to 8,300 in FY 18 with projections of an additional 1,000 per year after that.  
• A $40 million increase above base in the special education formula by adjusting the per pupil component of the formula upwards.
• $4.3 million increase for American Indian contract schools.  The formula was increased in 2016, but the increases were sunset to hold down budget tails.  This would make the formula changes enacted last year permanent.
• A $60 million increase in debt service equalization phased in over four years.  This provision was included in his tax bill recommendations released earlier this month.
• $4 million increase in the Support our Students grant system passed last session.
• $1 million in each year of the biennium for Full Service Community Schools.
• $1.5 million in each year of the biennium for the Help Me Grow program.
• $500,000 increase in each year of the biennium for the Education Partnership Pilot Program.
• Expanded access to Early Childhood Scholarships for a wider age group with no new funding.
• $68 million increase over the biennium to help districts cope with costs related to balancing the Teachers Retirement Association fund.  It is a positive sign that the Governor is suggesting this be handled outside of the increase in the General Education Basic Formula Amount.
• $3.25 million to update the mainframe computer at the Minnesota Department of Education.
• $1.5 million for development in an online IEP.
• $10.5 million to pay for increased obligations at the Minnesota Department of Education.

Here is the link to the E-12 budget book.  The change items are found on pages 9 through 41.

2018-2019 E-12 Budget Proposal

Here is the link to all of the information on the on the 2018-2019 Governor's budget on the Minnesota Management and Budget web page.

Governor's 2018-2019 Budget Recommendations

Three Hearings.  One Subject.  All three of the education-related committees devoted their time to a bill introduced yesterday--HF 386/SF 256--that would make private school tuition eligible for reimbursement under Minnesota's Education Tax Credit.  While a wide range of investments can be claimed under the program, private school tuition has never been allowable since the program was established in 1997.  The argument for the expansion of the credit stems from the fact that low-income families with little or no tax liability get marginal benefit from the tuition tax deduction that has been in place in Minnesota since the 1950s.

The bill also contains tax incentives for companies to contribute to scholarship funds for low-income students.

While providing greater education choice to low-income families is a laudable goal, there are questions surrounding the proposal.  That said, given the support it has among the majority caucuses at the Legislature, it will likely receive a lot of discussion during the session and it may find its way into the omnibus tax bill.  Given the Governor's opposition during his tenure, it would hit a roadblock there but there will be a lot of tough negotiations as the session winds down in May (and hopefully doesn't extend into June).

On behalf of SEE, I testified against the legislation.

Scary Moment at the State of the State.  Governor Dayton collapsed from dehydration near the end of his State of the State speech tonight.  Before the speech prematurely ended at about the 45-minute mark, the Governor laid out his top priorities for the coming session.  Included in these priorities is a 2% increase in each year of the biennium on the general education basic formula and an unspecified commitment to expanding access to early childhood education.  It was great to see Marshall superintendent Scott Monson and his early childhood team present at the speech to receive recognition from the Governor for the district's commitment to providing greater access for pre-kindergarten learners.

Other items mentioned by the Governor included a fix for health insurance premium sites, increased funding for higher education, long-term resources to invest in our transportation system, and a substantial bonding bill.  Some of these items will obviously clash with the Legislature's vision and it will be interesting to see how these inevitable confrontations play out.

Monday Hearing.  The Senate E-12 Finance Committee spent today's committee time on programs that aim to assure students are reading by the end of third grade.  Testimony was also taken from groups that represent students with dyslexia and ServeMinnesota/Reading Corps.  It was a very interesting hearing with lots of data presented showing what works in pursuit of the state's reading goals.

Here is a link to the materials presented at the hearing.

Senate E-12 Finance Committee--Monday, January 23, 2017, Hearing

BILL INTRODUCTIONS

House

HF 386-Kresha-Increase and Expansion of Education Tax Credit and Tax Law Changes for Businesses Providing Scholarships

HF 387-Knoblach-Increasing and Expanding Minnesota Education Tax Credit and Deduction

HF 388-Kresha-Providing a Credit for Donations to Fund Prekindergarten Education Programs

HF 408-Metsa-Modifies Expenditures from Iron Range School Consolidation Account

HF 417-Schomaker-Establishes Rural Career and Technical Education Consortium

HF 428-Fischer-Appropriates Money for Teacher Development and Evaluation Revenue 

HF 429-Fischer-Appropriates Money for a Research-supported Computer-based Educational Program that Uses Singing to Improve Reading Ability

Senate

SF 256-Chamberlain-Increase and Expansion of Education Tax Credit and Tax Law Changes for Businesses Providing Scholarships

SF 264-Franzen-Encourages School Districts to Implement Certain STEM Educational Programming with Grant Funding

SF 305-Utke-Grant for Minnesota Principals Academy

SF 310-Weber-Establishes Rural Career and Technical Education Consortium

SF 312-Weber-Exempts Hendricks School District from the General Reciprocity Agreement

You can see from today's introductions that it was a big day for bills relating to increasing tax deductions relating to tuition and contributions to scholarships to private schools along with an increase and expansion of Minnesota's education tax credit to make tuition payments to private schools eligible for reimbursement under the program.  It is School Choice Week in Minnesota and all of these bills will be heard tomorrow in both the House and the Senate.  Could be a long day with a lot of testimony.

Perpich School Under Scrutiny.  The Office of the Legislative Auditor has released its report on the Perpich Center for Arts Education and the report points out some problems that have arisen at the school.  Several of the issues deal with the decision by the Center to undertake a formal relationship with the Crosswinds Arts and Science School, a charter school that has been managed by the Perpich Center since the East Metro Integration District was disbanded.  The Legislative Auditor's report was heard in both the House Education Innovation Policy Committee and the Senate E-12 Policy Committee.

Here is a link to the report:  

Executive Summary

Full Report

The House Education Finance Committee heard from a number of groups on programs that supply college credit to high school students, including Post-Secondary Enrollment Options, Concurrent Enrollment, and Advanced Placement.  With the five-year reprieve from the Higher Learning Commission requirement that instructors of concurrent enrollment classes to have either a Master's Degree or eighteen credits in the curricular area they are teaching for college credit, the discussion surrounding these programs will certainly pick up steam.

House Passes Health Insurance Premium Relief Bill.  The full House passed SF 1--the bill that would provide relief to MN Sure clients who have experienced large premium increases--on a vote of 73-54 (straight party line) this afternoon.  The bill will now go to a conference committee to iron out differences between the House and Senate bills.  The challenge for the Legislature will be to construct a bill that will get the Governor's approval.  This is a pressing matter, as the enrollment period for MN Sure ends on January 30 and everyone involved would like to have this issue resolved by then.  The primary difference between the Governor and the Legislature appears to be over how the rebate will be delivered.  The Governor would like insurance companies to simply drop the premium by 25% for those consumers that are affected by the increases while the Legislature wants the consumers to apply for the rebates and have their incomes verified before receiving the rebate.  This will be the first test of whether the process can "get to yes" on major issues.

BILL INTRODUCTIONS

House

HF 335-Layman--Grant for Myles Reif Center for Performing Arts

HF 341-Thissen-Strategies to Prevent Over-enrollment of Minority Students in Special Education

HF 344-Davnie-Increase in General Education Basic Revenue and Indexing it to Inflation, Increasing Special Education Aid, Allowing School Boards to Renew Existing Referendum Levies

HF 376-Swedzinski--Creates Choice Scholarships for Students Who Have Dropped out of High School

HF 379-Swedzinski-Expands Special Education Teacher Licensure Program at Southwest State University

Senate

SF 186-Wiger-Grant Program for Student Support Teams to help Transition between Middle School and High School

SF 189-Kiffmeyer-New Revenue Stream for Low-Funded Districts

SF 204-Latz-Increase in Community Education Revenue

Committee Reports.  The two education committees that met today--the House E-12 Finance Committee and the Senate E-12 Funding Division--heard reports from various stakeholders in Minnesota's education arena.

The House Education Finance Committee listened to an overview of Minnesota's charter school network; what differentiates them from traditional public schools in terms of requirements and organization.

The Senate E-12 Finance Committee held a joint committee meeting with the Senate Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.  The meeting was dedicated to areas where the health and human services system and education systems work together.  Much of this work comes in the area where childcare and early education intersect.  The committees heard from several sites where the two systems are working together well to meet the needs of students and their families.

Lifelong Learning.  The Economist put together a great special report on lifelong learning in its latest issue.  One of the challenges for workers in the modern workforce is to keep their skills sharp and relevant in an ever-changing economy.  This set of articles has a lot of very good insight (we wouldn't expect less from The Economist?)  With President-elect Trump talking about the need for career and technical education and state policymakers also looking to find ways to enhance applied learning opportunities, this material couldn't come at a more opportune time.

I have linked the six articles that comprise the report below:

Lifelong Learning Has Become and Economic Imperative

What Employers Can Do to Encourage Their Workers to Retrain

How Older Employees Perform in the Workplace

Established Education Providers v. New Contenders

Turning Qualifications into Jobs

Retraining Low-Skilled Workers

Back to Work.  The three-day weekend is over and the Legislature reconvened today with a full set of hearings and floor sessions.  The Education Innovation Committee met this morning and went over the recommendations of the Legislative Study Group on Educator Licensing.  The report is not particularly long and it doesn't contain specific recommendations as to where a single licensing entity should be located (Board of Teaching or Minnesota Department of Education) or provide the exact outline of a tiered-licensure system, but it does give a framework from which the Legislature will be able to pursue and complete the task for streamlining Minnesota's educator licensing system and helping clarify what teaching candidates need to complete before being granted a full Minnesota teacher license.

Here is a link to the report:  2016 Report of Legislative Study Group on Educator Licensing

The House Education Finance Committee devoted its hearing to the early education issue, with presentations from the Minnesota Department of Education and Ericca Maas from Parent Aware for School Readiness.  There will be a lot of debate as the session continues over the proper direction for early childhood education and whether early childhood scholarships are better than (or perhaps mutually exclusive from) school-based programs paid for by increased pupil weighting.

The Senate Education Policy Committee covered the report from the Career and Technical Educator Licensing Task Force.  This report has some very specific recommendations that will likely dovetail with the larger teacher licensure questions that were raised by the Legislative Study Group on Educator Licensing.  Foremost among these recommendations are:

• Consideration of alternative requirements to be a career and technical education instructor short of a baccalaureate degree.
• Allowing two-year accredited institutions to offer content-related teacher preparation programs for prospective career and technical educators.
• Creation of incentives for eligible institutions to provide alternative paths to licensure.

Here is a link to the full report:  Career and Technical Educator Licensing Task Force Report

There was another interesting hearing outside of the education committees that may well have an effect on the education community.  The House Health and Human Services Policy Committee heard the report of the Governor's Task Force on Mental Health.  Like many reports, this one is not heavy on focused recommendations, but it does provide a framework from which  more effective and transparent mental health care can be available for Minnesota citizens.  Schools will play a role in this system and that was made clear from the testimony and questions from legislators.

Here is a link to that report:  Governor's Task Force on Mental Health Report

BILL INTRODUCTIONS

House

HF 255-S. Anderson-Increases K-12 Education Tax Credit

HF 268-Theis-Grant Program for Academic and Behavioral Interventions for Low-Performing and Chronically Absent Students

HF 276-Bly-Additional Support for Homeless Students and Professional Development Opportunities for Staff That Work with Homeless Students

HF 279-Bly-Directs Board of Teaching to Adopt Standards for a Specialized License in Project-Based Learning

HF 280-Bly-Alternative Accountability Measures for Certain Schools

HF 281-Bly-Clarifies Language Proficiency Requirements for Students Studying Latin

HF 306-Davnie-Modifies Tax Exemption for Instructional Materials

HF 307-Davnie-Protecting Online Student Data

HF 308-Davnie-Requires Schools for Adopt a Policy on Recess for Elementary Students

Senate

SF 126-Simonson-Requires Seat Belts on Newly Constructed School Buses

SF 158-Clausen-Grants for Development of STEM Courses

Federal Watch.  The confirmation hearing for Secretary-designee Betsy Devos began on Wednesday and it sounds like it was a free-wheeling affair.  I will say this about the Secretary-designee.  Whatever her positions, I have never seen a reaction to a proposed Secretary of Education like this one.

Here is an article from The New York Times website on today's hearing:  Betsy Devos' Education Hearing Erupts into Partisan Debate

And here is an article from The New Republic (which is left-of-center) on Ms. Devos' career:  Betsy Devos is Not a Mainstream School Reformer

Triple-Header.  Tuesdays and Thursdays will be triple-headers on the schedules of education lobbyists this session, with the House Education Innovation Policy Committee meeting at 8:15 AM, the House Education Finance Committee meeting at 1:00 PM, and the Senate Education Policy Committee meeting at 4:00.  There are also floor sessions in both the House and Senate on Thursdays as well, so things are hopping all day long.

The House Education Innovation Policy Committee received an outline of the committee's jurisdiction and the description of the duties of a variety of education-related boards and commissions this morning from new House education counsel Cristina Parra.  Ms. Parra is replacing long-time House education counsel Lisa Larson who held the position for 30 years.  The committee also heard from several education groups that did not testify during Tuesday's hearing.

The House Education Finance Committee held a joint hearing with the House Education Innovation Policy Committee in one of the new Capitol hearing rooms in the early afternoon.  If this room is any indication, the refurbished Capitol hearing rooms are fantastic.  The agenda consisted entirely of Commissioner of Education Brenda Cassellius giving a status report on a number of initiatives that the Legislature passed last biennium.

Senate Education Policy Chair Eric Pratt's committee took more testimony from education stakeholders.  I provided SEE's testimony on Tuesday and there were a lot of common themes coming from most education groups:  (1) teacher shortage, (2) other teacher licensure issues, and (3) greater flexibility for school districts.

Given the schedule, I couldn't get over to the MSBA convention today.  Hopefully, the weather won't stall my car and I can see a lot of SEE folks tomorrow morning.

Recommendations of Legislative Study Group on Teacher Licensing.  The report and recommendations are complete and the document will be presented next Tuesday in the House Education Innovation Policy Committee.  I wish I could figure out how to post it here, but I should be able to get it out to everyone by the weekend.

BILL INTRODUCTIONS

House

Wednesday Introductions

HF 140--Erickson--Teacher Licensure Board (Companion to SF 4 making it Vehicle for Task Force Changes)

HF 146--Davnie--Funding for Full Service Community Schools

HF 149--Urdahl--Creates Funding Reform Study

SF 177--Schomaker--Exempts Hendricks from Reciprocity Agreement

Thursday Introductions

HF 181--Lucero--Revenue Stream for Low-funded Districts

Senate

Wednesday Introductions

SF 62--Wiger--General Education Funding Increase, Special Education Funding Increase, Board Renewal of Existing Referenda

SF 87--Bakk--Reform and Increase of Small Schools Revenue

Thursday Introductions

SF 107--Clausen--Modification of Principals' Academy

SF 116--Wiger--Professional Educators Standards Board

SF 119--Dziedzic--Funding for Summer Academic Enrichment Programs

A Double Header of Hearings.  The House Education Funding Committee's hearing was once again dedicated to a tutorial conducted by Tim Strom and Emily Adriaens.  I will post the Powerpoint used to describe Minnesota's education funding system once it is put on the committee's website.

The Senate Education E-12 Funding Committee featured a presentation by Mark Haveman, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence on a 2015 report from the organization entitled How Much is Enough? The Implications of School District Labor Cost Trends for State Education Aid.  The report is fairly straightforward, but it takes a few pages to get to the main point of the report, which is given the cost structure of Minnesota's education labor market there is an impending resource shortage if the cost structure isn't altered.  The report provides some recommendations, mostly surrounding the need to move away from the unified step-and-lane salary schedules used in a vast majority of school districts and to make certain that categorical revenue is used efficiently to meet the intended needs of these formulas.

Something the report doesn't say (but it may infer) is that the property tax may need to play a larger role in education funding.  For that to happen, there will need to be more revenue dedicated to the referendum equalization program.  This discussion puts me in the Way Back Machine with Mr. Peabody (come to think of it, I kind of look like Sherman) to the year 2001 when the Ventura Administration got rid of the general education levy and made the basic formula totally dependent on state aid.  A lot of us warned policy makers of what might happen if the formula became too dependent on state aid and, sure enough, within a year, the state was short on revenue and there was no general education levy to fall back upon to provide additional resources to school districts.  On top of that, districts that could pass referenda soon began to widen the revenue gap between themselves and districts that couldn't, which was largely a function of equalization factors not being adjusted upward to reflect the statewide growth in property tax wealth.  

With the upward adjustment of the first tier referendum equalizing factor in 2013 and the creation of local option revenue in 2014, the gap that had grown throughout the first decade of the 21st century narrowed dramatically.  If we don't continue to pay attention and keep adjusting the equalization factors to reflect statewide property wealth growth, these gains in terms of equity may be sacrificed in the name of adequacy, and it will only be adequacy for some (those fortunate enough to pass referenda).

Here is a link to the report:  MCFE Report on Education Labor Costs

Hearings Update.  As reported yesterday, the two education policy-related committees--the House Education Innovation Policy Committee and the Senate Education Policy Committee--held their first hearings today.  Both committees' time was dedicated to having the members of the committee introduce themselves, introducing staff members, going over the procedures that will be followed by the committee and testimony from a variety of education stakeholders (including SEE).  The House E-12 Funding Committee also held its first hearing and the proceedings were similar with the sole difference being the committee did not hear from stakeholders, but instead got a tutorial on Minnesota's education funding system from longtime House Research analyst Tim Strom and new House fiscal analyst Emily Adriaens.

Tomorrow's hearings will feature more of the same, with the only education-related committees on tap are the two finance divisions.  The House will continue its tutorial with staff while the Senate will hear from Mark Haveman, Executive Director of the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence, on cost trends in public education.

First Hearing of the Year.  The Senate E-12 Funding Committee had its first meeting of the year and it was also the first hearing for any education-related committee this session.  The agenda featured testimony from Amelia Cruver from Minnesota Management and Budget and Dr. Tom Melcher from the Minnesota Department of Education.  Their testimony dealt with the increases in the base budget for E-12 education in the coming biennium and where the increases are coming from.  The two biggest drivers of increased funding in the budget is the third year phase-in of the Long Term Facilities Maintenance Revenue program and pupil growth.  Dr. Melcher also discussed the Governor's proposal to increase debt service equalization by lowering the second-tier eligibility threshold.  A number of SEE districts do very well with this proposed change and as I said in a blog entry last week, SEE is extremely appreciative of the Governor's decision to include this provision in his tax proposal.

There will be three education-related hearings tomorrow.  The House Education Innovation Policy Committee meets tomorrow morning at 8:15 AM.  The House E-12 Funding Committee meets at 1:00 PM.  The day wraps up with the Senate Education Policy Committee at 3:00 PM.  The policy committees will be taking testimony from a variety of education organizations outlining their priorities for the 2017 legislative session.

Bill Introductions--January 9, 2017

House

HF 84--Freiburg--Requiring Seat Belts on Newly-Purchased School Buses

HF 97--Freiburg--Incorporating Service Learning into Minnesota's Education System Through a Grant Program

Senate

SF 45--Rest--Governor's Tax Bill (with Ag Bond Credit and Increased Debt Service Equalization)

Good News in Governor's Tax Proposal.  The Governor and Lieutenant Governor released their tax cut proposal today and the proposal includes an increase in debt service equalization.  Obviously, having increased debt service equalization officially on the table for the 2017 session is a plus, but the second positive angle of this proposal is that it is in the Governor's tax bill and not in his education budget.  The Governor's tax bill also includes the Agricultural Bond Credit that provides considerable relief for owners of agricultural property for the portion of their property tax bill that goes toward school building bond debt.

The projected cost of the bill is $34 million annually for the Agricultural Bond Credit and $60 million over four years for the increase in debt service equalization.  The increase in debt service equalization results from a reduction in the second tier eligibility threshold from 26.24% to 22.34% for FY 18 and 19.00% for FY 19 and beyond.

Here is a link to the press release from the Governor's office on his entire tax cut proposal:

Governor Mark Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith Propose Tax Cuts for Over 450,000 Minnesotans

Bill Introductions.  It wasn't a heavy day for bill introductions, but a number of prominent items were introduced.  At the top of the introductions in both the House and Senate is the bill to provide assistance for participants in MNSure with their premium increases.  This will be the hottest item on the early-session agenda and the discussion could portend how the rest of the session will go.  Below are the House and Senate introductions pertaining to education issues with the chief author, a short description, and an embedded link to the bill's language in the title.

House

HF 4--Davids--Tax Provisions from Vetoed 2016 Tax Bill (including Agricultural Bond Credit)

HF 23--Quam--Student Religious Liberties Act

HF 41--Quam--Student Physical Privacy Act

HF 50--Quam--Includes Replacement Teachers Who Work More than 60 Days as a Replacement Teacher or Faculty Member as a Public Employee  (Different Approach than Senate's)

HF 69--Quam--Establishes Board of Teacher Licensure

Senate

SF 4--Pratt--Directs Minnesota Department of Education to Plan for Restructuring Minnesota's Teacher Licensure Program (Different Approach than House's)

SF 7--Wiger--$10 Million per Year for Full Service Community Schools

SF 11--Wiger--Provides for Digital Student Achievement "Backpack"

SF 12--Wiger--Increased 2nd Tier Referendum Equalization

SF 13--Wiger--Appropriates Money for Research-Supported Computer-Based Reading Improvement Program

SF 14--Wiger--Provides Teacher Development and Evaluation Revenue for non-Alternative Compensation Districts for FY 18 ($45 million) and FY 19 ($50 million).

Senator Wiger's increased equalization bill is the same bill he introduced last session.  It increases the 2nd tier from $760/PU to $1,000/PU and increases the referendum market value equalizing factor from $510,000/PU to $650,000/PU.  It's good to see the equalization issue surfacing this soon in the session.  Hopefully, we can build on this promising start.

Quiet Second Day.  Legislators are getting their bearings and there was no real action at the Legislature today.  I hope to post some pics of the newly-remodeled Capitol.  I haven't had the chance to see much of anything above the tunnel level to this point, but I will say that the revamped basement level is absolutely magnificent.  There is a new reception area that can be used for press conferences or presentations along with the remodeled Rathskaller (Cafeteria).  It's all very impressive.

With not much happening at the state level today, I thought I would post a couple of articles from national publications about what might be coming from the Trump administration as early as this spring.

Here's an article from Education Week:

Donald Trump and K-12: 5 Things to Watch in 2017


And here's an article from The American Prospect.  Be forewarned, the American Prospect writes from a perspective that is solidly left-of-center, so the views here do not necessarily reflect those of the blog master.

The War on Public Schools

And We're Off.  The 2017 legislative session began today.  The old first-day saying of "Everyone got sworn in and no one got sworn at" rang true today as the returning House majority and new Senate majority officially elected its leadership and approved the committee assignments.  The only House leadership change is that of House Minority Leader, with Representative Melissa Hortmann taking over for Representative Paul Thissen.  Speaker Kurt Daudt and House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin retained their leadership positions.  The Senate's Republican majority will be led by Senator Paul Gazelka with Senator Tom Bakk flipping from Senate Majority Leader to Senate Minority Leader as the head of the DFL caucus.

It will be a quiet week in terms of hearings, with a very light schedule.  They have set up the education committees this year so that there is no overlap.  There will be some long days, with the House Education Innovation Policy meeting at 8:30 AM on Tuesday and Thursday and the House Education Funding Committee meeting at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons.  The Senate Education-related committees will be meeting at 3:00 PM on Monday through Thursday, with the Education Finance Division meeting on Monday and Wednesday during that time slot and the Education Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday and Thursday.

Here are the home pages for the four education-related committees.  The Senate web pages do not have the committee rosters updated at this point:

House Education Finance

House Education Innovation Policy

Senate E-12 Finance

Senate E-12 Policy