House Education Funding Division Back in Action.  The House Education Funding Division held its first Zoom meeting today to discuss a funding bill that is taking shape in the House.  While Governor Walz has issued Executive Orders that are governing the funding and delivery of pre-K through 12 grade education, some questions remain and the House bill discussed today--HF 4415 (DE10 Amendment)--aims to answer a number of those questions and address some crucial funding issues.  The bill's chief author, Representative Jim Davnie, outlined these items as the primary goals of the bill:

• Hold districts financially harmless to the extent possible.
• Code employees in the category in which they were originally hired.
• Allow greater flexibility for districts to transfer within district funds.
• Codify the provisions allowing the waiving of achievement testing that were enacted as part of the recent Federal stimulus package.
• Allow high school seniors to graduate on time.
• Adjust deadlines for licensure renewal.
• Allow student teachers who have nearly completed their practicum to gain full credit for their experience.

One item that is in the bill that differs from items on which there is clear guidance is the House bill would require districts to pay their hourly employees for scheduled hours that have been reduced due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.  The section relating to this issue is found in Section 1, Subdivision 2, on page one and runs on to page two.  Many school districts are following this to the extent possible, but given the likely fiscal challenges that districts will be facing over the next few years, the desire to save dollars where one can is present.  Guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education allows for laying off hourly employees whose employment is not attached to a specific funding stream and the House would like to stem that.  A number of hourly employees and paraprofessionals testified in favor of the House legislation.  MASE Executive Director Gary Amoroso testified on behalf of the management end of the school equation (SEE is included in that set of groups).  It's a very difficult issue.  Everyone understands the value of the hourly employees and they have clearly stepped up as schools have had to convert to distance learning and would like to be in a position to see them made whole, but the looming financial challenges that school districts will be facing may make that difficult.  Hence, the tension.

Representative Ron Kresha asked the question that everyone must ponder as we work through the crisis is (and I paraphrase) "What decisions will need to be made when we are staring at a considerable budget deficit next biennium?"  Minnesota's state budget forecast--like budget forecast everywhere--have gone straight South since the pandemic and the short- and medium-term economic outlooks are troubling.  All indications are that there will be a considerable budget deficit when the Legislature convenes in 2021 and if we turn back the clock a decade, we can all remember the difficulties (with a state shutdown mixed in) in trying to put together state budgets during that stretch.  Stay tuned.  The immediate task is to protect revenues for the remainder of this biennium before we even think about that rocky road.