Now Where Was I?  More about my absence from the blog later, but it's time to get back in the groove.  Following the Parkland tragedy, a lot of attention has been paid to the wide range of cultural, medical, and education-related issues that many believe have either contributed to or could have prevented that shooting.  Availability of firearms, lack of quality mental health care, and the quest to make school buildings more secure have all been discussed in the aftermath of the event and with action in the House late last week to table two gun-related bills--one calling for expanded background checks on gun transfers and the other allowing for law enforcement and families to petition to prohibit certain individuals from owning firearms--attention will now center on the two other prongs of the debate:  school safety and mental health services.

I remember in the wake of the Newtown shootings in December, 2012, that there were similar discussions, but little was accomplished across the broad range of school safety initiatives that were introduced in the 2013 legislative session.  The urgency seems higher this time around and I expect more will be accomplished.  Two bills will likely be discussed and receive serious consideration.  Senate Education Finance Chair Senator Carla Nelson has introduced SF 2754, a bill that would add an aid component to the current Safe Schools Levy and rename the program Safe Schools Revenue.  As you can see, the aid amount is not specified in the bill, but with the bump in available state revenue due to the improved economic outlook outlined in the February budget forecast, some revenue should be available for the program. The other bill that will likely receive the most attention is slated to be introduced Monday in the House and would expand the allowable uses of Long Term Facilities Maintenance Revenue to include physical upgrades to school facilities aimed at preventing unwarranted entrance into school buildings and make them more impermeable to gun violence.

There will also be a considerable amount of attention paid to availability of mental health services for students and (more importantly in my estimation) availability of student support staff teams including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, and school counselors to provide on-going assistance and guidance to students who find themselves in crisis.  

Along with the pension issue, school safety (in all its permutations) will be the primary issues facing the education committees this session.

Budget Forecast.  As I referenced in the article above, the state budget situation improved markedly from November, going from a projected shortfall of approximately $190 million to a projected surplus of around $330 million.  Action from Washington contributed to part of the turn-around, as the Federal funding for the Children's Health Insurance Plan will reduce Minnesota state expenditures for the same services by about $167 million.  The remainder of the turn-around is attributable to improved economic performance that has sparked revenue collections across all major state tax categories.

While lower than the expectations of some legislators, this revenue boost should allow the Legislature and Governor to fund some things that did not get done last year--most notably the pension bill--and embark on a limited number of new initiatives.  I would expect improved school safety will be high on the list of priorities the Legislature will pursue during the remainder of the session.

Here is a link to the February forecast budget documents:  

Slide Presentation

Complete Forecast Document

Bill Introductions

House (2/26)

HF 3035--Gruenhagen--Specifies criminal sexual behavior that occurs between staff/contractors and students.

HF 3046--Fischer--Directs Legislative Permanent School Fund Commission to evaluate governance changes.

HF 3047--Fischer--Directs Legislative Permanent School Fund Commission to conduct a study on school district borrowing.

HF 3048--Fischer--Increases equalization factors for referendum, local option revenue, and debt service equalization programs.

HF 3053--O'Driscoll--Pension bill.

HF 3068--Fischer--Requires districts to pay costs of a college entrance examination for all 11th and 12th graders.

HF 3069--Fischer--Authorizes grants for water conservation programming in Minnesota schools.

HF 3070--Fischer--Allows for completion of nationally normed college entrance examination as a graduation requirement.

HF 3071--Fischer--Modifies World's Best Workforce requirements.

HF 3073--Thissen--Fully funds school lunch program for all students.

HF 3085--Loon--Clarifies qualified mental health providers for innovative mental health grants to intermediate school districts.

HF 3093--Urdahl--Expands eligibility for tax credit for teachers working on a master's degree to include special education teachers working on an advanced license.

HF 3097--Erickson--Amends requirements for charter school authorizers.

HF 3117--Kunesh-Podein--Establishes grant program to increase student access to licensed library media specialists.

HF 3118--McDonald--Indexes equalizing factors for operating levy.

HF 3119--Theis--Increases funding for the Sanneh Foundation.

HF 3144--Peterson--Implements recommendations of the Office of the Legislative Auditor from its report on the Minnesota State High School League.

House (3/1)

HF 3159--Koegel--Allows school boards to renew current levels of referendum and capitol projects levies by board action.

HF 3165--Fischer--Modifies standardized assessment requirements.

HF 3166--Mariani--Authorizes extended time revenue for students in correctional facilities.

HF 3167--Anselmo--Appropriates money for suicide prevention training for teachers.

HF 3168--Lueck--Directs Office of the Legislative Auditor to evaluate Permanent School Funds asset management program.

HF 3173--Loon--Renumbers statutes for intermediate districts.

HF 3178--Peterson--Requires Commissioner of Education to develop an academic achievement rating system to track student achievement and narrow the achievement gap.

HF 3179--Rarick--Authorizes Willow River School District to use proceeds from Long Term Facilities Maintenance Revenue bonds for other facilities maintenance purposes.

HF 3180--Mariani--Increases funding for English Language instruction.

HF 3181--Erickson--Requires Minnesota State High School League to maintain public rulemaking docket.

HF 3182--Erickson--Clarifies transportation responsibilities for certain homeless students.

HF 3190--Bennett--Extends eligibility for extended time revenue to students in career and technical education programs.

HF 3203--Christensen--Establishes penalties for school employees and independent contractors who have sexual relations with students.

HF 3206--Fenton--Increases funding for Grow Your Own pathways to teacher licensure.

HF 3207--Erickson--Modifies definition of a textbook.

HF 3256--Theis--Provides for school start times.

HF 3270--Christensen--Requires paid orientation or professional development to special education paraprofessionals.

Senate (2/26)

SF 2638--Wiger--Requires school districts to pay the costs for a college entrance examination for all students in 11th and 12th grades.

SF 2639--Wiger--Modifies World Best Workforce requirements.

SF 2652--Nelson--Modifies calculation of transportation aid for students enrolled in post-secondary enrollment options.

SF 2682--Wiger--Allows for completion of a nationally normed  college entrance examination as a graduation requirement.

SF 2698--Pratt--Establishes special education working group.

SF 2700--Pratt--Creates a directory of cross-references for statutes dealing with school flexibility.

SF 2701--Clausen--Allows school districts to renew existing operating referendum and capital projects levies by board action.

SF 2702--Clausen--Appropriates money to the Legislative Coordinating Commission to study the feasibility of allowing school districts to borrow from the Permanent School Fund.

SF 2703--P. Anderson--Increases appropriation to the Sanneh Foundation.

SF 2737--Eichorn--Transfers administration of school trust lands and establishes school trust management account.

SF 2748--Pratt--Expands grounds for teacher license revocation.

SF 2754--Nelson--Establishes school safety revenue program.

Senate (3/1)

SF 2759--Bigham--Makes members and staff at the Professional Educators Licensing and Standards Board mandatory reporters.

SF 2761--Wiger--Modifies standardized assessment requirements.

SF 2774--Nelson--Appropriates money for suicide prevention training for teachers.

SF 2810--Pappas--Increases funding for English Language instruction.

SF 2812--Pappas--Changes regional framework for distribution of voluntary prekindergarten site awards.

SF 2813--Dahms--Prohibits limits on school district hiring authority.

SF 2814--Jasinski--Modifies charter school lottery policy.

SF 2816--Chamberlain--Requires Commissioner of Education to develop an academic achievement rating system to track student achievement and narrow the achievement gap.

SF 2845--Clausen--Directs Office of the Legislative Auditor to evaluate Permanent School Funds asset management program.

SF 2856--Newman--Authorizes certain students in 10th grade to participate in career and technical education programs offered through post-secondary enrollment options.

SF 2900--Pratt--Authorizes alternative fire drills.

So, Where Have I Been?  

It's not often one goes in to the emergency room to have a kidney stone looked at and ends up spending six nights in the hospital with sepsis.  After the first couple of days, I felt pretty good, but the blood cultures kept coming back positive.  I can't remember any other instances in my life where I have been associated with positive culture, so this was a first.  Needless to say, I was climbing up the walls and chomping at the bit to get out of the hospital and back to work.  If I had stayed one more day, I would have asked for a job application.

Anyway, I wanted to send out my deepest appreciation and most hearty thanks to all of the staff at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.  The professionalism I had the pleasure of experiencing top-to-bottom at each stage of my treatment won't be forgotten.

And now it's back to work.  I'm recovered and ready to go.  Things are going to start moving quickly and I hope to stay on top of it.  Contact me with any questions or comments.