Interesting Show on NPR. Krista Tippett is the hostess of the National Public Radio show "Speaking of Faith." Every now and then, she puts the spiritual side of the human condition aside and concentrates on a different subject. Last Sunday morning as I was tooling around after church, I caught her interviewing Dr. Mike Rose, a professor of education at UCLA. Rose has devoted a lot of energy to both critiquing the "testing" movement and showing how effective classrooms are fostered. I found the interview to be extremely enlightening on a number of levels and thought I would post the link here, along with a link to Dr. Rose's blog and his latest book (which was featured during the interview).

Interview with Dr. Mike Rose, "The Meaning of Intelligence": http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/meaning-of-intelligence-2/

Mike Rose Blog: http://mikerosebooks.blogspot.com/

"Why School?" by Mike Rose (published July, 2009): http://www.amazon.com/Why-School-Mike-Rose/dp/1595584676/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283293235&sr=8-1

Federal Jobs Bill Funding Coming to Minnesota. The application has been sent and the dollars will be coming. As most of you know, Congress approved $10 billion in aid to local school districts earlier in August. The Minnesota Department of Education submitted the appropriate paperwork to begin the process of distributing the $167 million--Minnesota's share of the $10 billion--to school districts (and intermediate districts and special education cooperatives) throughout the state.

The formula by which the revenue will be distributed is a bit tricky, but not all that convoluted. To determine the amount each district would receive, the state calculated the amount of state revenue distributed to districts through two basic funding formulas, the general education formula and the special education (basic and excess minus tuition amounts) formula. The amount of state aid for each district was tallied and a percentage of total state aid was determined. This percentage was then multiplied times the $167 million and the product is the amount of revenue each district will receive.

Most SEE districts will be, as expected, below the state average award amount of $206 per student (Average Daily Membership and Not Weighted Average Daily Membership) and there should be no mystery as to why. SEE districts generally fall (well below in many cases) the state average in per pupil revenue generated through the general education formula. Because this formula dictates nearly 87% of the distribution of the federal revenue, it should be no surprise that SEE districts fall where they do on the distribution spectrum. Because special education costs in the metropolitan area are higher than outside the metropolitan area, there is a bit of a bump for the metropolitan area when the special education formula is factored into the distribution. However, because transportation sparsity is much higher outside the metropolitan area, that balances out the distribution effects of the special education formula.

All levies--even the levy portion of equalized levies--are eliminated from the calculation of the distribution percentage. In other words, if you receive equalization aid, that counts as state aid for the calculation of the distribution percentage. If you no longer qualify for equalization, you get no calculation "value" from your referendum. The same goes for the equity levy, transition levy, alternative compensation levy, and total operating capital levy.

I would like to echo MASA Executive Director Charlie Kyte's comments praising MDE Assistant Commissioner Lori Grivna for her hard work on this issue. Since joining the Governor's staff last year, Grivna has done an exemplary job communicating with education groups and we were certainly in the loop on this item from the get-go thanks to her hard work.

Below is a link to the MN Post article regarding the program and a link to the MDE website with the spreadsheet describing the total revenue and per pupil amounts that districts will be receiving. It should be noted that allowable purposes for expenditure of the revenue are still being developed, but it is expected that there will be flexibility with these dollars provided they go for the intended purpose of preserving existing jobs or establishing new positions.

MN Post: http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2010/08/27/20974/pawlenty_administration_seeks_federal_school_aid_after_all?utm_source=MinnPost+e-mail+newsletters&utm_campaign=4be15e3cd9-08_28_2010_The_Latest_from_MinnPost_com8_27_2010&utm_medium=email

Minnesota Department of Education: http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Accountability_Programs/Program_Finance/Federal_Aid/index.html

Brace for the Stop. I've been playing around with words lately (Who? Me?), trying to come up with some playful rhyming on Race to the Top. Like Lace for the Fop or Chase for the Slop. Mace for the Cop or Face for the Strop. I don't think Governor Pawlenty was playing with words when he informed the press that Minnesota was not going to apply for Phase 2 of the Race to the Top competition, throwing us all out of the vehicle as he slammed on the brakes.

He didn't mince words with his explanation of why the state won't be proceeding in Phase 2. He pretty much laid it at a pair of feet; one foot belonging to the Legislature and the other foot belonging to the teachers' union. From my perspective, I don't see how we could have been seriously considered in Phase 2, as we fell considerably short of qualifying in Round 1 and there were too many applicants between us and the likely cut-off point for available funding.

At any rate--and I don't say this glibly as in some "pox on both houses" snarkiness--it makes for great political theater. Recriminations, counter-recriminations, and so on and so on and so on. Let's see if this has any legs on the campaign trail, because that's where we'll hear about it next.

Here are the stories:

MPR: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/05/19/pawlenty-says-no-on-second-round/

MN Post Analysis: http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2010/05/19/18309/some_minnesota_educators_breathing_sigh_of_relief_that_state_wont_try_again_for_race_to_the_top_funds

More Federal Legislation. No here is some federal legislation that everyone should like. Senate Bill 1652, chief-authored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) would phase in full-funding for special education. The bill was introduced last August, but with all of the talk regarding the stimulus package and Race to the Top, it hasn't garnered much attention. This is a bill that the entire education community across the nation should support and support vigorously.

In the next few months, especially as ESEA/IDEA reauthorizations get underway, it will be important for us to contact our congressional delegation and urge them to support Senate Bill 1652 and other measures that aim to increase federal special education funding.

Representative John Kline (R-Minnesota CD2) is also intimating that he will suggesting similar legislation as ranking minority member of the House Education and Labor Committee. Race to the Top is all well and good. It contains a lot of reforms that are sensible and likely to occur on a wide scale within the next decade. At the same time, it would be nice if the federal government were to fund its existing mandates before it chases off in an entirely new direction.

Here's hoping we can build a coalition that can provide school districts throughout the country with needed revenue. Every dollar that goes into special education creates a dollar's worth of space in a school district's general fund. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Senate Bill 1652 Link: http://www.govit.com/vote/congress.aspx?bill=2009-s-1652

Nice Little Spot o' Ink for our Good Friend. Senator Kathy Saltzman scored a nice mention in Lori Sturdevant's column on Sunday. Sturdevant mentioned Senator Saltzman, along with Senators Stumpf and Bonoff, as three legislators who were coming forward with solid reform ideas. Congrats Kathy!

Lori Sturdevant Sunday Column (Saltzman mention on Page 2): http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/93808914.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UthPacyPE7iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Arizona Voters Pass Proposition 100. Arizona has been a center of controversy lately, with the tightening of immigration and the repeal of bilingual education, but on Tuesday, the state's voters approved a temporary sales tax increase to avoid cuts to education and human services. Arizona is facing about $862 million in proposed budget cuts to education, social services and public safety had the measure not passed. The temporary sales tax increase--a one percentage point increase from 5.6% to 6.6% for the next three years--will generate an estimated $918 million in its first year. The projected margin of victory on the ballot question was 64% to 36%.

Text of Proposition 100: http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051810_prop100_text

Story on Passage: http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2010/05/19/news/doc4bf3866bb67df605267840.txt

Kudos to Arizona voters for thinking "inside the ballot box" and getting this done for the students in Arizona. Minnesota voters don't have access to this type of revenue-raising tool, making one wonder what would happen if they did. I'm not big fan of the initiative/referendum process, but the uneven K-12 funding over the past few decades that has led to both adequacy and equity problems has me re-thinking my position.

Robin Hood! Saw Robin Hood last weekend (Action packed Pee-Wee!--name the movie where that line appeared, but I digress) and I highly recommend it. Nothing like a little medieval sword play to get one's blood going a bit. What made me chuckle though (and it only made me chuckle) is that our organization used to be viewed as the "Robin Hood" of education funding. Outside of my uncanny resemblance to Russell Crowe, it's hard to believe that we were once considered that and that kind of gave me pause. There is still an equity issue in this state and we have to continue to pursue policies that close the funding and opportunity gaps and make certain that every student in Minnesota has access to the high-quality education that is going to be necessary to compete in the 21st century global economy.

The arrows we will use will be rhetorical ones and we have to be careful about who we aim at. One of the problems we have had over the years is that we are sometimes less than circumspect in our language. We need to be indignant. There's no excuse for the inequities in property tax effort and referendum revenue levels that exist due to the erosion of the value of equalization. Further, the failure of the general education amount to reflect inflationary pressures has caused a huge problem for those districts who can't pass a referendum. We need to remain on the two-track strategy of ensuring the basic funding levels of education are sufficient to meet the needs of an ever-changing student body and that property tax effort on referendum levies district-to-district on a per dollar basis are much more equitable than they are currently.

Other Education-Related Items. The omnibus education funding and policy bill may have gone the way of the dinosaur (2010 style), but a number of other items of interest to the education community did pass. Here's a brief synopsis with links to each bill:

Special Session House File 1--The omnibus budget balancing bill. The education portion of the bill is found in Articles 3 and 4 (pages 8 through 23) . Article 3 contains the aid payment shift changes and the early recognition shift. Article 4 contains the forecast adjustments.

Link: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0001.1.html&session_year=2010&session_number=1

Senate File 2918, Chapter 359--The pension bill. Small benefit increases for one fund (MSRS), but the bill is devoted to bringing greater integrity to the existing funds and backing them off of the precipice.

Link: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=359&doctype=chapter&year=2010&type=0

House File 3263, Chapter 356--A bill about speed limits in work zones, it was amended on the Senate floor to contain a provision exempting school buses from having to use child restraint systems (booster seats).

Link: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=356&doctype=chapter&year=2010&type=0

House File 3329, Chapter 395--A bill that provides the Metro Deaf Charter school with cash flow assistance (because all of their money is state aid and all of their students are eligible for special education, the change in the aid payment schedule from 90%/10% to 70%/30% would put them out of business) and adjusts the debt service appropriation upward to reflect the drop in property wealth resulting from the downturn in the housing market. The drop in statewide property wealth creates a greater aid entitlement as property wealth divided by the first and second tier equalizing factors creates an a levy percentage. The lower the levy percentage, the great the amount of aid (Got that? Hard to describe without a blackboard.).

Link: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=395&doctype=chapter&year=2010&type=0

House File 2227. Chapter 398--A bill that creates a Commission on Service Innovation that will seek ways to improve collaboration between governmental units. The Minnesota Association of School Administrators are included on the commission in Article I. Also contains the language of SF 2496 (Rummel-DFL-White Bear Lake) that seeks to incorporate greater use of research in determining course of state government programs.

Link: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=398&doctype=chapter&year=2010&type=0

Senate File 2511, Chapter 319--A bill that creates a collaborative governance council that will provide legislative recommendations on how collaboration between governmental units can be improved.

Link: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=319&doctype=chapter&year=2010&type=0

Senate File 2908, Chapter 396--A seemingly unrelated bill concerning nursing home rates that become the last-minute vehicle for the statewide physical education standards and Healthy Kids Rewards Program after the omnibus E-12 funding and policy bill went down earlier Sunday evening.

Link: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=396&doctype=chapter&year=2010&type=0

I'm sure I'll find more as the weeks wear on and don't be shy about pointing out other bills you think should be included.

One Last Effort. Representative Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville) gave it one last shot, but it was for naught as a scaled-back version of the omnibus E-12 funding and policy bill was rejected (well, not exactly rejected) this morning.

The special session was called at 12:01 AM and the budget-reconciliation package was expected to be the only piece of legislation discussed. In order for any bill to be passed the same day it is introduced--regular or special session--is for the rules to be suspended. The reason for this is that a bill can only get a reading once per day without a rules suspension. All bills must have three readings in each house and those readings are given when the bill is: (1) introduced and given a number, (2) when it comes out of its last committee, and (3) when it is voted on for the final time on the floor of a chamber. The process is then repeated in the second chamber.

After passing the budget reconciliation bill, Representative Greiling moved to suspend the rules (which requires a two-thirds vote). The motion garnered 85 votes, five votes short of the 90 necessary to suspend the rules.

This is really unfortunate and I didn't get a good reason from anyone why the Republicans voted en masse to oppose the motion. It is rumored that some were ticked off because of the way the budget deal fell together, but there was really nothing in this bill worth opposing at this juncture. The contents of the bill were very non-controversial and the only thing that even approached any measure of concern was a provision relating to testing and the fact that a cut score was not established in the end-of-course testing requirements for math (I need to get clarification on that provision, so don't take that one to the bank).

As reported last evening, the only changes to education funding in the budget balancing bill was the change in the forecast number for the debt service equalization program and the adjustment of the shift from 73%/27% to 70%/30% for the next fiscal year. The shift was not codified and will be discussed again next session in--guess what?--the 2011 budget balancing bill.

I hope to be using the blog a lot this summer. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or issues you think the blog can help address for your district or the organization as a whole.

Dead Ed. It now appears that the education bill constructed yesterday is now totally dead. As I reported a couple of hours ago, the Senate voted to reject the conference committee report and send it back to conference committee for amendment. The primary objection in the Senate was the inclusion of the language allowing school districts to renew existing referendum levies and at the same amount and term by school board decision. There's going to be a lot finger-pointing in the next few days regarding who is to blame for the unraveling of the bill, but it's hard to pin too much blame to anyone. This is what happens when something, if not exactly slapdash, is pieced together by amendment without the benefit of having the provisions vetted during a full-blown conference committee process.

It appeared that although the referendum renewal language would cause some consternation, it would at least make it through the Legislature and find its way to the Governor for a possible veto. As the day wore on, it became apparent that the Governor planned to veto the whole bill because of its inclusion and some last minute maneuvers were attempted to salvage the rest of the bill. Unfortunately, while there were some elements to the bill that had required a considerable amount of work and were clearly "finished product," the lack of synergy between the House and Senate began to show and the components weren't available to put together a bill that both sides felt comfortable passing.

I'll have more at another time.

The Legislature has adjourned the regular session sine die. By state constitution, the Legislature could not meet in regular session past midnight. However, a budget deal was has been struck just a short while ago and there will be a short special session later this morning. The deal will be reflected in a bill similar to the one passed last evening, which sets the K-12 aid payments schedule at 70%/30%.

More to follow.

Education Conference Committee Now on Senate Floor. New venue, same discussion. Senate Education Funding and Policy Chair LeRoy Stumpf (DFL-Thief River Falls) presented the bill and discussion has ensued. A memorandum has been distributed from the Minnesota Chamber and the Minnesota Business Partnership that opposes the provision du jour, that being the ability of school districts to renew an expiring referendum levy by board resolution. Senator Terry Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka) has just finished a rousing speech in support of the bill, but that wasn't enough to fend off a motion by Senator Claire Robling (R-Jordan) to send the report back to conference committee.

EGADS!!!! The Senate has rejected the conference committee report and have, on a vote of 38-24, approved the aforementioned Robling motion.

The two bones of contention were the referendum renewal language and the lack of the what several were referencing as a lack of serious reform.

House Passes E-12 Conference Committee Report. The motion to send the E-12 conference committee report back to conference failed and after about an hour-and-a-half of debate, the bill passed by a vote of 77-53. A lot of the debate centered around the provision that allows school boards to renew an existing referendum levy for the same amount and term of the question without going before the voters. This led to a very animated discussion about taxpayers' rights (School districts are the only local unit of government that has to go before the voters for basic operating revenue, but that rarely gets mentioned in the discussion of taxpayers' rights.) and the on-going problems with education funding in Minnesota.

I believe one of Representative Greiling's strongest points is that in the absence of the adequate and equitable funding provided by the "New Minnesota Miracle," we have to resort to these measures that basically continue to "kick the can down the road." If we got away from the referendum as a primary engine of basic education funding, a lot of these questions would evaporate, but that's the state of the system we are in right now. All in all, it was a positive discussion that accurately highlighted the difference of opinion on education policy in Minnesota and the nation. That said, we have to get this bill signed and we are one step closer to that with the passage of the bill by the House.

I'll let you know what happens in the Senate, which will take up the bill in about an hour.

Education Conference Committee Report Hits House Floor. HF 2072, the omnibus E-12 funding and policy conference committee has just hit the House floor and Representative Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) has just moved to send it back to conference committee. That motion will likely fail, the bill will pass, and then be sent to the Senate, where it will likely pass as well. The inter-body friction that has plagued the negotiating process over the past few years is still present, however, and I never take anything for granted.

The finance centerpiece of the bill is the board authority to renew an operating referendum for the same amount and term as the existing levy. It's not a controversial proposal, but that doesn't mean it hasn't generated opposition. The Governor is on record as being skeptical of the provision as he sees it as eroding the taxpayers' ability in a school district seeking to renew a referendum to have a serious discussion of that question. That is not the case, as there is a reverse referendum mechanism in the provision that would force a district to put the renewal on the ballot as opposed to renewing at the board level.

Here's what needs to happen--assuming the bill passes the Senate and I am assuming it will--to get the Governor to sign this bill. If you have a referendum up for renewal before July 1, 2016, it is absolutely imperative that you contact the Governor's office once the bill passes the Legislature and urge (nay, demand) him to sign the omnibus education funding bill.

I will be providing more insight as the bill proceeds through the process today.

Education Accord Reached (at least within the Legislature). As I reported in my last entry, the House and Senate education leaders did manage to get together and met at 5:30 AM to present a conference committee report. Just a couple of highlights before I get some sleep and come back and watch the debate this afternoon. Included in the bill are:

1. Language allowing school boards to renew an existing levy for the same amount and term is included in the conference committee report.
2. Charter school reform provisions that tighten up a number of regulations relating to charter schools, but also allows them to own buildings.
3. Language that clarifies the third-party billing statutes and promotes greater use of the program.

The big question now is whether or not the Governor will sign the bill. It does not contain the reform provisions he sought and he is not enamored with the board renewal language as it pertains to the referendum. There are, however, a number of provisions that came from the Minnesota Department of Education addressing a wide range of subjects. The question remains if these relatively non-controversial provisions are sufficient to blunt his other concerns about the bill. My guess is the floor debate later today will answer many of these questions.

Some Movement on an Education Policy Bill. As I write, there are several possible vehicles moving between the House and Senate that could serve as possible vehicles for an omnibus E-12 education policy bill. The House passed HFs 3329 and 2702 and the Senate then passed HF 2072 with a seemingly non-controversial amendment.

Whether or not these bills will serve as vehicles remains to be seen. Vehicles start in the body of origination (Senate for SFs and House for HFs) and then are passed to the other body, where they can be amended with other provisions. If the provisions are agreed upon in the other body prior to the amendment, the body in which the bill originated can simply move to concur with the amendments and you have, in effect, a conference committee without conference committee meetings.

It remains to be seen what will be included in any agreed-upon amendment that can pass both houses. As many of you know, the bodies are far apart on the reform initiatives advocated by the Governor as part of his Race to the Top recommendations. The House has the language that would allow board approval of an expiring referendum levy. Given these differences, there may either be synergy that would fit the bills together or (hopefully not) a gap that is too wide to be traversed successfully in the truncated time frame under which we now operate.

Stay tuned.

Legislative Reaches a "Hemispheric" Agreement. It's shortly after 2 AM Saturday night/Sunday morning and the House and Senate have put together another "hemispheric" agreement housed in HF 3834. I say "hemispheric" because everyone talks about "global" agreements around here that include the Legislature and the Governor. Seeing this one only includes the Legislature, it can only include one hemisphere of the globe.

The conference committee has just gone into recess (it will fun to watch them play dodge ball this late) to meet with the Governor.

The legislative agreement contains a bit of a surprise for the education community, as the state aid payment shift is increased in the next fiscal year from 73%/27% to 70%/30%. Combined with early recognition of property taxes, the total hit to K-12 reaches nearly $2 billion. There is no education policy in this bill and no tax increases.

The legislative agreement looks pretty much like veto bait. The language of the health and human services bill the governor vetoed yesterday is contained in this legislative agreement. The conference committee working on HF 3834 has not finished its work yet, so it will be open for amendment. It will be interesting to see if the members come back with amendments after meeting with the governor.

Governor Signs Pension Bill. After a bit of saber-rattling and a veto threat, the Governor did sign the pension bill right under the wire. The bill contains only a miniscule increase for one fund, but does raise contribution rates for both employees and employers and brings greater--and much needed--integrity to the state's pension system. I will have a summary of the bill available for distribution at next Friday's meeting.

Latest Development. HF 3834 appears to be a vehicle bill of some sorts that will be put together in conference committee this evening. Both the House and Senate have waived their rules prohibiting material not being in the bill as it went into conference from being included in the final agreement. What is interesting to note is that both K-12 funding division chairs, Representative Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville) and Senator LeRoy Stumpf (DFL-Thief River Falls), are members of the conference committee. This could mean that some pre-agreed education items may be part of the package that goes back to the Legislature for final approval either later tonight or sometime tomorrow. As is the case, I will report when I know more.

No Deal in Sight. Harvey Mandel seems to have put away all the suitcases and sent all the models home, because at this point, it looks like the game show has been changed to "No Deal or No Deal." It's the middle of a lovely Saturday afternoon and while it's not exactly a graveyard here in St. Paul, it's hardly a beehive either.

The Senate is in recess. Majority Leader Pogemiller made it clear that the Governor and legislative leadership are in negotiations on a global budget solution and without tipping his hand, I didn't take from his comments that we're anywhere near getting that at this point. The Senate will likely return this evening and clean off any work it may have in front of it, but it might not be a whole lot of work. At the same time, it's hard for anyone to go anywhere, because something always seems to be afoot. A lot of that activity turns out to the rumored activity, but you have to be active to combat rumored activity (did that last sentence make any sense?).

The House is currently on the floor handling what appears to be relatively minor bills (If there is such a thing. I've been around here long enough to know that every bill is major to somebody.).

Education Bill. Right now, prospects for some type of education bill remain murky. I have talked to staffs in both houses and vehicle bills do exist to get some type of pre-confereed bill--a bill that would only contain measures that both bills agree to--through both houses in the same form. Such bills are usually non-controversial. As I've said a lot this week, there are a number of really vanilla provisions that would be nice to see passed, if for no other reason that they won't take up any discussion time next session. Again, I'll keep you posted.

House Done for the Day. It's just after 4:30 PM and the House of Representatives just adjourned for the day and the Senate likely won't be far behind. That pretty much ends the chance of any earnest negotiations toward an education bill today. I have talked to legislators in both Houses and there will be an attempt to put something together in that regard. It likely won't be a huge bill, but there are a few provisions that are both non-controversial and helpful that would be helpful to school districts.

I will let you know as it happens.

I Know There's Nothing Going On. Apologies to Anni-Frid Lyngstad--one of the A's in ABBA--for playing with the song title of her only hit "I Know There's Something Going On," but the play on words seems to accurately describe the nature of the game beneath the Capitol dome as we enter the last seventy-two hours of the 2010 Legislative Session. All work has to be done by 12:00 midnight Sunday evening/Monday morning as bills cannot be passed on the last day of the legislative session in its second year. Add to that, the Legislature has tried to avoid meeting on Sunday (although its happened with greater regularity the past few years) and you can see we're in a severe time crunch.

The Governor vetoed the legislative budget-balancing bill because it contained the tax increases I outlined the other day. The Governor is now on his way to Lake Winnibekabenacmilicagoma (I think that's the one) for the fishing opener. Let's hope he's got five-bar cell phone coverage there, because my guess is he'll be on the phone a bit. The gap right now in the debate springs from the tardiness and uncertainty surrounding the approximately $550 million in federal aid that hasn't showed up in Minnesota yet. That necessitated the inclusion of the tax provisions in the legislative package and, as he has said about 662,987 times before (at least it seems like that many), the Governor simply isn't going to increase state taxes.

That's left everything in limbo and Chubby Checker hasn't hit the dance floor yet. In other words, there's less happening here than at a shuffleboard tournament.

Education Bill Uncertain. Lost in the budget negotiations is the fact that the chances for an education bill look iffy right now. Both the House and Senate have passed education-related bills, but the problem is, none of them are companions. This makes it impossible to set up a traditional conference committee. For something to happen, the Legislature will have to resort to taking a bill currently in possession of one house that was sent from the other house, negotiate an amendment that would serve as a conference committee report and have the same bill then approved by both h0uses in the exact same form. In other words, no amendments. This has been used in the past, but the temptation to amend will be there and hi-jinks can be the order of the day when the opportunity presents itself.

One provision SEE supports and has been watching closely is the House provision that allows school boards to renew expiring referendum levies by board vote instead of having to go back before the voters. If there is no bill, that provision obviously goes to the bone-pile and that would be unfortunate. To avoid this, I would urge all of you to contact your legislators--especially if they are on an education or tax-related committee--and tell them to:

1. Pass an education bill, and;
2. Have the final education bill contain the language of Article I, Section 11, of HF 3833 as passed by the House on May 12, 2010.

There is still time for this to happen, so if you are so moved, your involvement would be greatly appreciated.

I'll be back later as things take shape on this and other issues.

Education Bill Passes House. It was pretty much a party-line vote and one would think from the debate that the fate of western civilization hinges upon either the creation or rejection of an alternative path to teacher licensure, but HF 3833, the House version of the omnibus education policy bill passed last evening by a vote of 86-47.

What was surprising was the fact that there were only a thirteen amendments offered (five passed, eight failed). That made the words/amendment ratio fairly high and a lion's share of the verbiage went toward two subjects: Race to the Top and the aforementioned alternative licensure provision.

Race to the Top was injected into the debate relatively early with an amendment offered by Representative Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) to prohibit the Minnesota Department of Education from re-applying for the Race to the Top competition. That amendment failed on a vote of 25-105. A little later in the proceedings, Representative Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) offered an amendment that pretty much contained the provisions outlined in HF 3799--Representative Garofalo's bill that proposed the Governor's Race to the Top application guidelines--but that amendment was divided to single out the "core curriculum standards" in the amendment. After that portion of the amendment failed on a vote of 41-90, Representative Garofalo withdrew the amendment. These votes show how muddled the whole Race to the Top support and opposition is. Cultural conservatives hate national curriculum standards and hate may be too tame a term. At the same time, cultural conservatives tend to like the teacher tenure and licensure aspects of Race to the Top. On the other end of the political spectrum, many (except for notably those legislators in the urban core) don't like the teacher changes, but offer some measure of support for other reform initiatives. Sprinkled in amongst all positions is a bit of angst over the federal government's desire to go in this particular direction when federal programs like special education and Title I are so grossly underfunded. All in all, it looks like the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is going to be an interesting one.

The amendment that provided the most verbal fireworks--and I don't use that term as any belittlement of the heartfelt speeches given on both sides of the issue--was the alternative teacher licensure provisions developed by the House K-12 Education Policy Committee offered as an amendment to the bill by Representative Randy Demmer (R-Hayfield). As a refresher, remember that last Friday, there was an effort to remove these provisions from HF 2431, the then-House E-12 Omnibus Education Funding and Policy Bill, in the House Ways and Means Committee. After that effort failed, an entirely new bill--HF 3833--was introduced with every provision of HF 2431 except the alternative teacher licensure provisions. That bill passed the Ways and Means committee late on Friday evening after a brief, yet polite, exchange regarding the "wha' hoppened?" angle to the change and a failure to re-insert the alternative teacher licensure provisions back into the bill.

I was surprised that more wasn't made on the floor last evening regarding the Friday's unorthodox maneuver, but the debate stayed squarely on the merits (or weaknesses, depending on one's perspective) of the alternative licensure provisions. Not much changed since Friday, and the amendment failed on vote of 65-68.

After that, there was discussion on several amendments. I want to thank Representative Connie Doepke (R-Wayzata) for offering an amendment that would have eliminated the maintenance-of-effort provisions in the safe schools levy for school counselors and other support staff. Unfortunately, that amendment failed on a voice vote. Maybe next year!

The final vote came shortly after that point (there were three more amendments, two of which failed) and the bill passed 86-47. It's now onto the Senate!

House Debating (and Soon Voting on) HF 2037. It's been a little over three hours of debate and House Majority Leader is wrapping up the debate and we'll be seeing a vote in a few minutes (It passed by a vote of 71-63). The House debate was much more spirited than the Senate debate, although the same points were made over and over and over and over again. Job killer or job saver?

It's not going to make a whole lot of difference because this bill is D.O.A. Anyone else here remember that early 1970s macbre masterpiece "D.O.A." by Bloodrock (pictured at right), a Dallas-Fort Worth area hard rock band (remember when it was called "hard rock" and not "heavy metal?"). That song, which was banned because of its musically graphic depiction of a victim of an airline crash slowly dying. That song clocked in at a little over four minutes, which is less time than the Governor will mull over his options on this bill. It's dead and serious work begins yet again.

In another matter, the education policy bills may be up tomorrow on the floors of both houses. As was the case today, I will keep you informed.

EDIT: Just been told education policy up in the House tomorrow and Senate on Wednesday.

HF 2037 Passes Senate. As promised, here's the result of the vote on HF 2037--the legislative majority caucus' budget-balancing package--on the Senate floor The final vote was 34-33.

Link (the roll call has yet to be posted, but shoudld be available shortly): https://www.revisor.mn.gov/revisor/pages/search_status/status_detail.php?b=Senate&f=HF2037&ssn=0&y=2010