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.