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

Senate Committee Chairs Named.  Given the plethora of analysis in the wake of the election, I resisted putting in my own one-and-a-half cents, but needless to say things changed dramatically in Minnesota with the Republicans taking control of the State Senate.  Just yesterday, the new Senate leadership headed up by Majority Leader-designate Paul Gazelka of Nisswa announced its committee structure and the chair-designates for each of those committees and subcommittees.

The good news for SEE members is that all of the key players on education and tax policy are familiar with SEE's positions on tax fairness and education funding issues.  That certainly doesn't ensure a complete adoption of SEE's platform (a lad can dream), but the learning curve will not be as steep on the finer points of the organization's mission

Here is a story from Minnesota Public Radio outlining the Senate Republicans' new committee structure and the chair-designees.

Republican Committee Chairs

National Education Policy.  Education did not receive a lot of attention during the Presidential campaign and with the election of Donald Trump, things are foggier than they would have been had Hillary Clinton won.  A Clinton administration's policies toward education would have likely been an extension of what was established under President Obama, which for the most part are variations on the same theme first embarked upon during the administration of former President George H.W. Bush (Bush 41 for those of you keep score at home).  The only inkling of where President-elect Trump's education policy will go comes in the area of charter schools and school choice.  Early indications are that policy may tilt that way.  To what extent is anyone's guess.

All I know is Diane Ravitch is a bit worried, as reflected in this article from The New York Review of Books.

When the Public Goes Private, as Trump Wants: What Happens?

Whether or not Ravitch's concerns are premature remains to be seen.  

Here is an article from The New York Times that provides some light on President-elect Trump's statements on education from the campaign trail, but there's a lot of open policy space left on issues that have yet to be touched upon.

Where Donald Trump Stands on School Choice, Student Debt and the Common Core

And, as I am writing this, President-elect Trump has chosen Betty DeVos to be his Secretary of Education.

Trump Chooses Betty DeVos for Secretary of Education

Here is a link to Betty DeVos' biography on Wikapedia:

Betty DeVos Biography

Two Days in a Row!  There were so many ideas rolling around in my head last night, I didn't get them all down in cyberspace, so here are a couple of additional items.

Ted Kolderie Charter School Piece.  Minnesota education reformer Ted Kolderie had a really insightful piece in the Sunday Minneapolis StarTribune.  In the piece, Kolderie attempts to steer a middle-ground between the anti-charter school lobby and those who believe that charter schools are the answer to all of Minnesota's (and the nation's) educational woes.  He also urges getting back to the original focus of charter schools, which was to launch innovative instructional practices in hopes of finding methods that can be exported to the school population at large.  

Kolderie also touches on the Innovation Zone program promoted by Education/Evolving and MASA and adopted by the Legislature several years ago.  This legislation has allowed a select number of districts to be relieved of some state mandates and think outside the box on the delivery of instruction and assessment.  The article also looks at the teacher-led school movement and how that might contribute to innovation as well. 

It's  a very good piece and certainly worth the read.

How to Improve Public Education? All of the Above.

Presidential Education Platforms.  There hasn't been much discussion of education policy in the Presidential race, but ABC news published this short item two days ago outlining the differences that exist between the candidates.  The major difference emanates from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's greatly expanded set of school choice options, especially for students in failing schools.  While the details are murky (seeing that Federal contribution to public education hovers at less than 10% of total revenue nationally).  Would the portability proposed by Trump only apply to Federal funds or would states be required to have state (and perhaps local) revenue follow students who choose an option other than their local school district?

Here is a link to the article.

Clinton's and Trump's Plans to Help Education Differ Sharply

Election Update.  Election year means election coverage and MinnPost has put together a list of the 25 most-watched legislative races this go-round.  Given the uncertain nature of this year's presidential race, there could be more than 25 seats that will be in play.  We've seen this before in Minnesota when a non-traditional candidate (and I think it's safe to call Donald Trump a non-traditional candidate without having it seem like an insult) threw a wrench into standard voting patterns.  We have eight weeks until election day and we will certainly see a plethora of activity between now and then.

Here is the MinnPost article on their legislative races to watch.

The 25 legislative races to watch in Minnesota in 2016

One really solid Twitter user to follow for election news is former Republican party communications director Michael Brodkorb.  Michael does a really great job at finding below-the-radar items and he's balanced in the items he posts.

Here's a link to his Twitter feed.

Michael Brodkorb Twitter Feed

Litigation Update.  SEE Past-President Scott Hansen asked me at our Executive Board meeting last week if I had been following the school adequacy lawsuit in Connecticut.  I hadn't and I was happy that Scott clued me in.  For those of you who weren't aware, Judge Thomas Moukawsher ruled last week that Connecticut was "defaulting on its duty" to provide a quality education to all of the state's students.  If his comments would have stopped there, it would have been one thing, but Judge Moukawsher's ripped into Connecticut's funding system and a variety of other quality-assurance measures which he deemed totally inadequate, especially for students in racially- and economically-diverse school districts that are typically among the lowest funded school districts in the state.

While differentials in available revenue was the impetus for the lawsuit, many observers believe that the comprehensive ruling has more to do with tepid reform efforts that purportedly aim to close academic achievement gaps.  What is odd here is that Education Week gave Connecticut a B- grade for its overall system with a B+ in funding adequacy measures and a B in funding equity measures in its 2016 Quality Counts ranking.  Like Connecticut, Minnesota was accorded a B- grade in the annual rankings, but its funding grades were a D for adequacy and a B+ for equity (Frankly, I don't think Education Week understands our equity issues in Minnesota very well, at least when it comes to property wealth differentials).

So, would a legal challenge have a chance in Minnesota?  Difficult to tell and I always remind people that litigation is an iffy proposition even with a glaring case of inadequate or inequitable funding.  That said, I have been sitting in MDE's Assessment Advisory Committee that is charged with reviewing the state's plan to comply with the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  The task ahead of that Committee is daunting, but as I have listened and participated it has gotten me wondering about how we concentrate almost exclusively on the achievement gap (which is extremely important) while ignoring the opportunity gap (which is also important).  

At the last meeting, the inclusion of science in the battery of state-measured tests was included.  Proponents believe that only when something is tested does it become important to students.  My response then (and my opinion has only strengthened since) is that we only measure about 40% of the curriculum now and it's all important to students, especially for those non-college bound students.  Adding another test for a hard academic subject while continuing to overlook the importance of career and technical education and other subject matter that falls under the "applied knowledge" category will only educationally pauperize a large number of students further.  But to maintain costly career and technical education programs and higher technology requires an investment of revenue in these programs that has been sorely lacking over the last two decades.  

One barrier to successful litigation in Minnesota is that the Legislature and successive gubernatorial administrations have created an array of categorical programs that attempt to address demographic differences that exist in Minnesota and geographic challenges that a number of small rural districts face.  To be successful, it appears any litigation would have to be an effort that would encompass all Minnesota districts contending that the basic revenue provided to all districts is well below what it needs to be in order to provide all children with quality educational opportunities.  Given our D grade in funding adequacy and the clear need to provide a broader array of student learning opportunities, maybe litigation is in order.

Here are links related to the Connecticut case:

NY Times--Judge, Citing Inequality, Orders Connecticut to Overhaul its School System

Judge Moukawsher's Ruling

Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (Plaintiff) Press Release

ED Week 2016 Quality Counts Rankings

School is Back!  Alice Cooper sang "school's out for summer," but I always expected a follow-up like "school's back for fall, winter, and spring" but none was coming.  He's still recording, so maybe it's in the works. 

For some folks, it's been more than a week, but most school years commenced yesterday.  I imagine phones were ringing steadily in a lot of districts as parents were trying to get their kids to the right bus stop at the right time and schools were virtual beehive with kids trying to find their way to class on time.

So welcome back everyone.  I hope to be posting more as the legislative scene will be heating up now that we are past Labor Day.  There's a lot going on and the SEE program year has started.  Don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or comments about what's happening on the campaign front and I'm always happy to come out to member districts to participate in legislative forums or meet with school boards and district administrations.

Plug for Early Childhood.  I'm certain Governor Dayton will be pursuing more money for his pre-kindergarten program during the 2017 session and this article from The New York Times from a couple weeks back may be cited as the Governor tries to make a case for greater investment in the project. 

The Good News about Educational Inequality (Oddly worded title).

Charter School Scrutiny.  There's been a considerable amount of national attention aimed at charter schools this summer.  I'm not going to post a link to the profanity-laced story on John Oliver's HBO Last Week Tonight (this is a G-rated site after all) that aired last month, but I will post this story from The American Prospect.

The Great Diverson

The article concentrates on the city of Boston, but what portions of the article are applicable to issues relating to charters nationally. 

Primary Dust Has Settled.  We now have the formal match-ups in the legislative races after Tuesday's primaries eliminated challengers in a number of legislative districts.  The highest profile primary saw Minneapolis neighborhood activist Ihlan Omar defeat 44-year legislative veteran Phyllis Kahn and former Minneapolis School Board member Mohamud Noor by slightly over 10 percentage points in the three-person race (41% for Omar and just under 30% for both Kahn and Noor).  While this race garnered the most attention in statewide pre-primary discussions, just to the west of this district, another refugee--Fue Lee--defeated 10-term incumbent Joe Mullery by a 56%-44% margin.  The biographies of both Omar and Lee are very inspiring and history buff that I am, I see these events in the same light as breakthroughs by other immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries.  While both of these candidates face general election opposition, it is expected both will win in November and the perspectives they will bring to the Legislature will certainly be new and interesting.

Two other incumbent legislators--these from SEE country--were also unseated in the primary, as Senator Sean Nienow and Representative Tom Hackbarth were defeated by Mark Koran and Cal Bahr respectively.  Both Nienow and Hackbarth were denied the endorsement of their local Republican party activists, which made for an uphill battle in the primary.  Nienow was defeated by a 64%-36% margin, while Hackbarth came out on the short end of a 57%-43% vote spread.

There were several other primary battles in the heart of SEE country, as House Speaker Kurt Daudt staved off a challenge from Alan Duff, winning his race by a 72%-28% margin.  In House District 15A, House Education Reform Committee Chair Sondra Erickson defeated challenger Tom Heinks by 74% to 26%.  There was also a primary in the Senate District 15 to replace the retiring Senator Dave Brown, with GOP-endorsed Andrew Mathews defeating former Princeton School Board member (and SEE rep) Dan Whitcomb by a 64% to 36% margin.

Here is a of story on the primary results:

StarTribune

All results available here:

Secretary of State Unofficial Primary Results


So now it is on to November.  One of the interesting things about Minnesota this election season is that it appears three of our Congressional Races--the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th--will be receiving national attention.  Get ready for lots of ads (and I am sure most of them will be of one candidate extolling the virtues of their opposition).

I plan to be busy during the election season and hope to get out and visit with as many candidates as I can.  Obviously, I will clear that with local SEE members before I do that and I welcome any invitation by SEE member districts as they stage legislative fora or schedule visits with candidates.  My goal is to elevate discussion of our tax equity message and the need for funding adequacy during the campaign season.

ESSA Panel Begins Its Work.  MDE has convened the ESSA Accountability Advisory Committee with a seven-meeting schedule taking place between early August (first meeting was August 2) and November.  The goal of the meetings is to develop a broad-based set of accountability measures that will fit with the requirements of the new federal law.  I am serving on the committee and I will be polling many of you to garner ideas of what our organization would like to see included (or not included as the case may be) in Minnesota's network of accountability measures.

Reading List Suggestions.  Avid reader that I am (and it's so much fun not to be reading spreadsheets and bills so far this summer), I've been catching up on some interesting books over the summer.  One thing I've been trying to do is make sense of the current political climate, so I've delved into some off-the-beaten-track tomes to try to get a better handle on things.  Here are a few suggestions:

This is a book from the late-1990s that was updated to include the results from the 2000 Presidential Election, but it documents the movement of the white working class away from the Democratic Party.  Teixeira leans left in his sensibilities, but what he outlines in this book eerily portends what we are seeing in 2016.  Four stars!

Here's a link to the book:  America's Forgotten Majority: Why the White Working Class Still Matters

This is a very interesting book that outlines the causes of the economic meltdown of the late-aughts and provides some insight about what might have been done to alleviate the effects of the collapse in housing prices instead of what was done.  If you have econophobia, mathophobia, or are allergic to academic jargon, the book can be a bit of a slog, but it is interesting.  As those of you in SEE districts recall, the collapse of the housing market was especially keen in your districts and this provides some insight as to why.  I'll go 3 1/2 stars on this one.

Link:  House of Debt

Conservative Professor of Political Science at Hillsdale College D.G. Hart provides a very interesting history of the involvement of evangelicals of both the left and right in his From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin.  Like Teixeira's book on the white working class, this book provides solid history.  While Teixeira's book looks at elections since the 1970s, Hart's work goes back much further in American political and social history to map the effects that evangelicals have had on our political process.  4 stars all the way.

Link:  From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin

How About Reading Something More Fun?  I am now living with a published author, as my wife Randi has had a short story published in the recently-released collection Cooked to Death.  Color me proud!  Without sounding biased, I just want to say this is a really great collection of works by local mystery writers.  Having been to a reading and perusing some of the other stories on my own, this is a great set of little mysteries all revolving around the theme of food (and murder!).  Like all great works, it's available at Amazon.

Here's the review from the St. Paul Pioneer Press:  Cooked to Death Review  (Note that my wife's story is mentioned).

Link:  Cooked to Death

Busy Month of July.  July has been hot in Minnesota, but there's been plenty of action on the education front since I last wrote in late June.  The two working groups--one on teacher licensure the other on school discipline--have begun their work in earnest and will be moving along throughout the interim. 

The teacher licensure group met once in mid-June and once again in mid-July.  At the July meeting, testimony was taken from the Board of Teaching, the Minnesota Department of Education, the Board of School Administrators, and Board of Architectural, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design (AELSLAGID) (Now that's an acronym).  The testimony was very straightforward by all of the groups as they each outlined their duties and where they fit in the scheme of educator licensing.  The notable exception (playing the Sesame Street "which of these things is not like the other game") was the AELSLAGID.  That group--headed up by Executive Director Doreen Frost--was brought in to describe how a single licensing board could work with a variety of different vocational groups.  I believe this plays to the possibility of having one educator licensing board (or agency) that would subsume all of the duties currently spread between MDE, the Board of Teaching, and the Board of School Administrators.  One group that has yet to be called upon in the licensure discussion is higher education and bringing them into the discussion will be crucial if this effort is to meet with success.

Here is a link to the Legislative Study Group on Educator Licensure.  It is the July 21, 2016, meeting:Legislative Study Group on Educator Licensure

The Student Discipline Working Group met in mid-July.  After sorting out several housekeeping measures, the group heard reports on the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act and statistics relating to the number and types of students who have been removed from school setting under the purview of the act.

Here is a link to the Student Discipline Working Group on the MDE web page:  Student Discipline Working Group

Grant Possibilities.  The guidelines for applying for a number of the grant programs that were approved in 2016 are making their way to the MDE open grants page.  Here is the latest:

Support Our Students Grant Program

The link for that grant is at the bottom of the open grants page.  This grant program requires a local match (50% for the first four years and 75% for the last two) in an attempt to bring more school social workers, school psychologists, guidance counselors, school nurses, and chemical dependency counselor into school settings.  The bill that created the grant program was authored by Senator Susan Kent and Representative Alice Hausman.  The grants, as explained somewhat above, would run for six years.  This is a competitive grant program and school districts and cooperative units are eligible to apply.

The expansion of the pre-kindergarten program will not be run on a competitive grant basis, but will instead be awarded on the ranking of free or reduced price lunch percentage in a school district along with the availability of three- or four-star childcare programs in the district.  Here is a list showing which districts and charter schools applied.  Who gets funded and for how much will be announced on August 1, 2016.

Status Report on Pre-Kindergarten Funding

Kansas Still in a Tizzy.  Kansas has been the site of a lot of school funding litigation over the past two decades.  In 2005, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the state's education funding system was unconstitutional and required an infusion of additional revenue distributed more fairly to meet constitutional muster.  The court's dictate was met over the next two years, with over $750 million in new revenue being approved for public schools.

But things began to fall apart--in large part due to the financial crisis--and a group filed to re-open the Montoy lawsuit (what got the ball rolling earlier in the decade) to remedy the reneging on the Supreme Court's decision of 2005.  That motion was dismissed.

In absence of a decision to re-open Montoy, a new lawsuit (Gannon v. the State of Kansas) was filed in late 2010.  After four years in the courts, the Kansas Supreme Court once again ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and found the education funding system to be unconstitutional.  As in the case of Montoy, the Kansas Legislature tried to remedy the situation, but as late as May, the Supreme Court has refused to sign off on the Legislature's work, leaving the system unconstitutional.  

I found this article from The New York Times to be interesting, as it pointed out a somewhat new angle in the underlying opposition to public education funding.

NYT article on Kansas Education Funding

Special Session Rumblings.  After a number of fits and starts, it appears that a special session to clean up unfinished business from the 2016 Legislative Session may take place in mid- to late-August.  I think the one item everyone agrees on is the need to re-pass a tax bill.  As you recall, that was vetoed in May due to a one-word mistake (albeit a very costly one-word mistake).  What makes the tax bill extremely important to a number of SEE members is the Agricultural Bond Credit that would provide a direct-to-taxpayer credit to owners of agricultural property worth 40% of the property tax burden attributable to school debt service.  That would be a big plus to both farmers and the districts with high concentrations of agricultural property.

Summertime Means Road Time.  Just a reminder that I'm always available to come out to board meetings and the like during the summer months.  I'm especially interested in getting out to meet legislative candidates, so if you are having events including these candidates where my presence might be helpful (or at least tolerated), don't hesitate to contact me.