February 27, 2009
Conference on High Performance
The College Readiness Consortium at the University of Minnesota is sponsoring a conference featuring Andreas Schleicher, head of the Indicators and Analysis Division at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France. I am attaching a flyer with information about the conference.
State Budget Forecast
The next budget forecast will be released next Tuesday, March 3. The general consensus is that the forecast will show a worsening economy with the jobless rate continuing to climb. However, the projected deficit for the 2010-2011 biennium may not change considerably given the recently passed federal stimulus legislation. However, it is expected that the projected shortfall for the 2012-13 biennium will look considerably worse as the federal dollars are one-time.
Health Insurance Bills Scheduled
Several health insurance bills have been scheduled for next Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. in the Senate Commerce Committee including Education Minnesota’s proposal to mandate that all school employees be pooled in the PEIP program.
Governor’s Budget Bill Heard
The Governor’s education budget bill was presented to the Senate E-12 Committee on Wednesday and Thursday. I am including a summary of the Governor’s bill below.
Legislative Hearings Next Week
TUESDAY, March 3, 2009
8:30 AM
K-12 Education Policy and Oversight
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF935 (Slocum) Charter school provisions modified.
Continuation of previous week's discussion of delete-everything amendment to HF935 Charter school provisions modified. Additional amendments may be offered and discussed. Committee will take final action on the bill.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - 12:30 PM
Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection
Chair: Sen. Linda Scheid
12:30 p.m. Room 112 Capitol
**ADDITION SF 797 (Dahle)** **Removed, to reschedule for a later date SF 406 (Bakk) ***
Agenda:
S.F. 814-Bakk: School district employees state employee group insurance plan (SEGIP) eligibility.
S.F. 915-Dibble: Public employees insurance program school districts employee health insurance coverage purchase requirement.
S.F. 797-Dahle: School district self-insurance pools health insurance coverage regulation.
S.F. 106-Latz: Consumer complaint database.
TUESDAY, March 3, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF1172 (Garofalo) Early childhood and family, prekindergarten through grade 12, and adult education provided.
WEDNESDAY, March 4, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF553 (Dittrich) Online learning provider requirements modified. Informational hearing on HF1001 (Demmer) K-12 education state grants authorized to leverage quality improvements, and money appropriated.
WEDNESDAY, March 4, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF331 (Nornes) Seat belt requirements amended for motor coaches used in school-related transportation. HF875 (Hortman) State requirement modified for pupil transportation for elementary pupils, and a levy authorized to pay for certain transportation costs. HF896 (Hortman) Locally controlled process defined for establishing hazardous traffic condition pupil transportation zones, and levy authorized for certain hazardous pupil transportation services.
THURSDAY, March 5, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF920 (Tillberry) Education; obsolete and unneeded mandates removed. HF1037 (Swails) Home school mandates reduced.
Thursday, March 5, 2009 - 8:30 AM
***Revision 2: Agenda change***
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda:
S.F. 811-Dille: Independent school district #2887, McLeod West; reorganization operating debt bond issue.
S.F. 726-Vandeveer: Independent school district #831, Forest Lake, fund transfer authorization.
S.F. 731-Sheran: Independent school district #77, Mankato fund transfer authorization.
S.F. 737-Marty: Independent school district #282, St. Anthony-New Brighton; fund transfer.
S.F. 939-Kubly: Independent school district #62, Ortonville; permanent fund transfer.
Summary of Governor’s K-12 Bill SF836
Article I
Minimum Hours of Instruction—Requires 425 hours of instruction for kindergarten, 935 for 1-6 and 1,020 hours for grades 7-12. Saint Paul currently has 171 days for kindergarten @ 5.5 hr. = 940.5, grades 1-6, 173 days @ 6 hr. = 1038, and grades 7-12 175 days @ 6 hr. = 1050. Allows MDE to reduce aid for not providing minimum hours of instruction.
QComp—Requires all districts to submit a plan for QComp application and move to an alternative salary schedule and improve beginning teacher salaries. Clarifies that evaluations under the program are for teachers. Establishes a QComp Council. Increases the revenue from $250 to $300 per pupil.
Aid and Levy Payment Shifts—totally over $1.2 billion.
Pay for Progress—Establishes a new pay for progress revenue in general education revenue based on a growth model developed by MDE that adds 1% of the formula allowance for average growth and two percent for high growth.
Contract Deadline—Repeals the January 15th, contract penalty deadline.
Article 2
End of Course Exams/Student Transcripts—Moves State to end of course exams, including life science, calculus and physics. Also requires scores to be on the student transcript.
Minnesota Virtual Academy—Establishes on-line courses for school districts to use in grades 6-12.
On Line Learning—Requires all students to take at least one on-line course or on-line learning experience as defined by the Commissioner.
Annual Review for All Continuing Contract Teachers—Requires the district and bargaining representative to develop an annual review process and evaluation for all continuing contract teachers. The process must be aligned to best instructional practices for teaching and learning. The provisions in the school improvement plan will be used for this evaluation. The educational improvement plan must be approved by the school board and have at least these elements:
(1) assessment and evaluation tools to measure student performance and progress;
(2) performance goals and benchmarks for improvement;
(3) measures of student attendance and completion rates;
(4) a rigorous professional development system, consistent with staff development statute, that is aligned with educational improvement, designed to achieve teaching quality improvement, and consistent with clearly defined research-based standards;
(5) measures of student, family, and community involvement and satisfaction;
(6) a data system about students and their academic progress that provides parents and the public with understandable information;
(7) a teacher induction and mentoring program for probationary teachers that provides continuous learning and sustained teacher support; and
(8) substantial participation by the exclusive representative of the teachers in developing the plan.
Summer of Success—Provides extended day/year grants for schools or other providers for students not proficient and math and reading by 8th grade.
Alternative Teachers/U Smart—Establishes alternative pathways for teacher licensing in licensed areas with high need: math, science, special education, pre-k, ELL.
Integration Aid—Freezes integration revenue at the current year amount per district.
Reading Corp—Provides $1 million per year.
Principal Academy—Appropriates $400,000 per year.
Article 3, Special Programs—Appropriates for special ed.
Article 4, Facilities and Technology—Appropriations.
Article 5, Nutrition and Accounting—Appropriates funding for school breakfast and lunch programs.
Article 6, Libraries—Appropriations for libraries.
Article 7, Early Childhood Education—Appropriation.
Article 8, Prevention—Appropriations for adults with disabilities, hearing-impaired adults and school age care revenue.
Article 9, Sufficient and Lifelong Learning—ABE and GED testing appropriations.
Article 10, State Agencies
Article 11, PELRA–Establishes mediation and binding arbitration requirements for local school boards and teachers. Moves to total package binding arbitration.
February 23, 2009
Governor’s Budget Bill Introduced
Governor Pawlenty’s budget bill has been introduced in the senate. As is customary, the Chair of the Senate E-12 Education Finance Committee, Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, is the sponsor of the bill. The bill includes the provision we have previously outlined such as expansion of the Q Comp Program and the Pay for Progress proposal. In addition, the Governor’s bill includes a provision that would change the current law requirement that school districts maintain at least the same number of days of instruction that were in place in the 1996-97 school year to a set number of hours of instruction as follows: 425 hours for kindergarten, 935 hours for grades 1 through 6 and 1,020 hours for grades 7-12. A preliminary review shows that there are a number of schools that would have to add hours to their current calendar to meet the new requirement. We will send out more information soon.
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=S0836.0.html&session=ls86020
Per Pupil Revenue Declines
A report written by Jeff VanWychen of MN 2020 shows that per pupil revenue adjusted for inflation has declined even more dramatically than previously reported. Since 2003, total per pupil revenue has dropped by $525 per pupil when adjusted for inflation. Here are links to the report and also to a list showing the change in per pupil revenue for each school district since 2003:
http://www.mn2020.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B92B6FD45-76B8-4655-8E36-B969551DFE70%7D
This provides excellent information for you to include in your testimony if you plan to attend on of the legislative town hall meetings.
National Council on Teacher Quality Report
The National Council on Teacher Quality recently released its State Teacher Policy Yearbook. This annual report grades states on how good they are at identifying effective teachers, retaining effective teachers and exiting those teachers deemed ineffective.
http://www.nctq.org/stpy08/reports/stpy_minnesota.pdf
Town Hall Meetings
Finally, this is one last reminder to attend one of the Legislative Town Hall meetings this week. Here is a link to a list of the meetings:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/budgettownhallmeetings.asp
You can sign up in advance to testify at the meetings.
February 20, 2009
Federal Stimulus Briefing
I am attaching the Power Point presentation used by Deputy Commissioner Chas Anderson and Dr. Tom Melcher at the briefing on the federal stimulus legislation this morning.
Statewide Health Insurance Bill Introduced
It’s back! This year’s version of a mandatory statewide health insurance pool for school district employees has been introduced:
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0866.0.html&session=ls86
This year’s version of the legislation creates a separately rated group for school employees and their dependents within the Public Employee Insurance Program. We will provide more information in the coming days.
Upcoming Legislative Hearings
Here is an updated list of some of the committee hearings of interest next week:
MONDAY, February 23, 2009
10:30AM - 12:00 PM
Joint Committee: Ways & Means and Finance
200 State Office Building
Presentation and discussion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009
MONDAY, February 23, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Ann Lenczewski
Agenda: Report to the Legislature of the Governor's 21st Century Tax Reform Commission
Monday, February 23, 2009
Charter School Working Group
Chair: Sen. Kathy Saltzman
3:00 p.m. Room 15 Capitol
Agenda: Diversity and Demographic Trends
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: S.F. 836-Stumpf: Pre-kindergarten through grade 12, family and adult education provisions modifications and appropriations.
TUESDAY, February 24, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF106 (Swails) P-20 education partnership established. HF679 (Peterson, S.) School required to notify a parent when a student intimidates or bullies another student. HF523 (Bigham) School background check requirements modified relating to disciplinary actions.
TUESDAY, February 24, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF107 (Emmer) School boards authorized to spend staff development revenue on CPR and automatic external defibrillator training and first aid certification. HF195 (Norton) Labor Day school start provisions modified for two years, and repealing the Labor Day school start provision after studying its effect. HF320 (Dettmer) School districts allowed to pay the costs of conducting a criminal history background check on an employee, contractor, or volunteer.
TUESDAY, February 24, 2009, 4:30 PM
Committee: Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik
Agenda: Presentation on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 from Department of Education and Department of Human Services Presentation from Department of Human Services on the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda:
S.F. 836-Stumpf: Pre-kindergarten through grade 12, family and adult education provisions modifications and appropriations.
WEDNESDAY, February 25, 2009
8:30 AM
K-12 Education Policy and Oversight
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF623 (Slocum) Charter school provisions modified, and charter school advisory council revived.
HF935 (Slocum) Charter school provisions modified.
A delete-everything amendment will presented to combine these two bills. This hearing will focus on overview and discussion.
WEDNESDAY, February 25, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF427 (Hilstrom) Two-year waiver authorized from the special operating plan for districts in statutory operating debt. HF429 (Hilstrom) School districts in statutory operating debt levy authorized. HF778 (Faust) School district with a negative fund balance authorized to hold a referendum election at a time other than November.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: Institute on Race & Poverty: Myron Orfield - Presentation on Integration & the Achievement Gap
THURSDAY, February 26, 2009
8:30 AM
K-12 Education Policy and Oversight
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF623 (Slocum) Charter school provisions modified, and charter school advisory council revived. HF935 (Slocum) Charter school provisions modified.
Continuation of Wednesday's discussion. Public testimony will be taken. Final action will be taken on the delete-everything amendment that combines the two bills.
THURSDAY, February 26, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF779 (Rukavina) Contracted school food service vendor requirement to make deficit payments eliminated. HF252 (Benson) State reimbursement increased for school lunch aid from 12 to 15 cents per meal, and money appropriated. HF784 (Newton) State reimbursement increased for reduced price school lunch meals from 12 to 52 cents per meal, and money appropriated.
THURSDAY, February 26, 2009
4:30 PM Note: February 26 hearing will adjourn at 5:30
Committee: Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik
Agenda: HF601(Slawik) Prekindergarten exploratory projects continued, family, friend, and neighbor grants continued, school readiness service agreements continued, and money appropriated.
Hearings the following week:
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: Testing and Assessments
WEDNESDAY, March 4, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Joint Committee: Ways & Means and Finance
200 State Office Building
Presentation of the February Forecast
Thursday, March 5, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: Testing and Assessments
Legislative Town Hall Meetings
Remember to attend the Legislative Town Hall meeting near you to express your support for public education and to let legislators know about the challenges facing your school district if funding is frozen or reduced. You can sign up in advance to testify at the meetings:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/budgettownhallmeetings.asp
February 19, 2009
Federal Stimulus Update
REMINDER: AMSD is hosting a briefing by Department of Education Staff on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act tomorrow morning, February 20 at 9:00 a.m. in the Grand Hall of the TIES Building. Deputy Commissioner Chas Anderson and Dr. Tom Melcher will be presenting an overview of the federal stimulus legislation and what it means for Minnesota school districts. The federal bill is very complicated and raises a variety of issues including state and local maintenance of effort issues. MDE staff is continuously receiving new information from federal officials as they analyze the federal legislation and they will have the latest information available to share tomorrow morning. Here is a link to a Power Point MDE presentation used by MDE at legislative hearings yesterday:
http://education.state.mn.us/mdeprod/groups/Communications/documents/Presentation/036890.pdf
Legislative Town Hall Meetings
It is important for educators, parents and citizens concerned about public education to attend one of the legislative town hall meetings to offer your input about the importance of protecting and investing in public education. Legislators want to hear your local story. Let them know about the budget challenges facing your school district and the budget reductions you have already had to make in recent years. They need to hear about the impact of the failure of the state to properly fund special education, the basic formula allowance, early childhood education, etc. They need to hear about the heroic efforts you have undertaken to try to pass operating referendums to make up for inadequate state funding and the toll that takes on your staff, your parents and your community. Let them know that they need to balance the budget in a fiscally responsible way that will allow us to move forward with the New MN Miracle proposal in the future.
Here is a link to a list of the town hall meetings. Please note that you can sign up in advance to testify at the meetings:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/budgettownhallmeetings.asp
Community Forums
I want to let you know about 2 upcoming forums of interest:
- The Columbia Heights School Board is sponsoring a forum on Minnesota’s school funding system on Thursday, February 26 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Columbia Heights District Center. The District Center is located at 1400 49th Avenue NE in Columbia Heights. Eric Nauman, fiscal analyst for the Senate Education Finance Committee, will be providing an overview of Minnesota’s education funding system with a question and answer session following his presentation. There is an old joke that there are only 4 people in the entire state who understand all of the various components of our education funding system. Well, Eric is one of the 4 people!
- The Roseville Legislative Action Committee is sponsoring a forum on the New Minnesota Miracle proposal on Monday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the Roseville Middle School Auditorium located at 15 East County Road B2 in Roseville. Keynote speakers with be Rep. Mindy Greiling and Rep. Carol McFarlane. In addition, Dr. Juanita Hoskins and Tana Bogenholm of District 623 will offering a presentation on the AVID program, an in-school support program that helps non-traditional students prepare for college.
Minnesota Budget Project Report
One of the most contentious issues this session will be a battle over whether or not to raise taxes and, if so, which ones? The Minnesota Budget Project has a developed a comprehensive report on this topic that you may find interesting:
http://www.mncn.org/bp/revoptions09.pdf
Upcoming Legislative Hearings
MONDAY, February 23, 2009
10:30AM - 12:00 PM
Joint Committee: Ways & Means and Finance
200 State Office Building
Presentation and discussion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009
MONDAY, February 23, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Ann Lenczewski
Agenda: Report to the Legislature of the Governor's 21st Century Tax Reform Commission
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: S.F. 836-Stumpf: Pre-kindergarten through grade 12, family and adult education provisions modifications and appropriations.
TUESDAY, February 24, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF107 (Emmer) School boards authorized to spend staff development revenue on CPR and automatic external defibrillator training and first aid certification. HF195 (Norton) Labor Day school start provisions modified for two years, and repealing the Labor Day school start provision after studying its effect. HF320 (Dettmer) School districts allowed to pay the costs of conducting a criminal history background check on an employee, contractor, or volunteer.
TUESDAY, February 24, 2009, 4:30 PM
Committee: Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik
Agenda: Presentation on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 from Department of Education and Department of Human Services Presentation from Department of Human Services on the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda:
S.F. 836-Stumpf: Pre-kindergarten through grade 12, family and adult education provisions modifications and appropriations.
WEDNESDAY, February 25, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF427 (Hilstrom) Two-year waiver authorized from the special operating plan for districts in statutory operating debt. HF429 (Hilstrom) School districts in statutory operating debt levy authorized. HF778 (Faust) School district with a negative fund balance authorized to hold a referendum election at a time other than November.
THURSDAY, February 26, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF779 (Rukavina) Contracted school food service vendor requirement to make deficit payments eliminated. HF252 (Benson) State reimbursement increased for school lunch aid from 12 to 15 cents per meal, and money appropriated. HF784 (Newton) State reimbursement increased for reduced price school lunch meals from 12 to 52 cents per meal, and money appropriated.
THURSDAY, February 26, 2009
4:30 PM Note: February 26 hearing will adjourn at 5:30
Committee: Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik
Agenda: HF601(Slawik) Prekindergarten exploratory projects continued, family, friend, and neighbor grants continued, school readiness service agreements continued, and money appropriated.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: Testing and Assessments
WEDNESDAY, March 4, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Joint Committee: Ways & Means and Finance
200 State Office Building
Presentation of the February Forecast
Thursday, March 5, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: Testing and Assessments
February 16, 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
I am attaching a copy of the conference report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In addition, here are some links to additional information including revenue estimates for states and school districts:
http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/01/school-districts-will-benefit.shtml
We are still trying to decipher the language and determine how many strings are attached to the funding streams and how much flexibility there is in terms of maintenance of effort and supplement/not supplant requirements. We are working with the Minnesota Department of Education to organize a briefing on the stimulus legislation and what it means for Minnesota school districts. The briefing is tentatively scheduled for this Friday morning, February 20 in the TIES Building so please mark your calendar. I will get back to you soon with the details of the meeting as soon as we confirm with MDE representatives.
February 13, 2009
Federal Stimulus Bill
We are still awaiting the final language of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – it was literally being drafted throughout the night last night. We will forward more information as we receive it.
Salary Freeze Issues
Public employee compensation will definitely be a prominent issue this session. We are expecting the Governor’s proposal to institute a binding arbitration process for school employee groups to be introduced soon. In addition, legislation has already been introduced that would implement a freeze of all public employee compensation:
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=S0372.0.html&session=ls86
I am attaching the latest newsletter from the Minnesota Taxpayers Association which includes a history and a great deal of information related to this issue.
Mandate Reduction Efforts
The House has formed a working group to develop recommendations on mandates that could be waived or repealed. The members of the House working group are Representatives Tillbery (Chair), Doepke, Dettmer, Morgan, Ward, Benson and Brown. I have attached a copy of an initial list they have developed for discussion. We are working with the groups and will be advocating to add more mandates for repeal to their list. The Senate is also engaged in this effort and has developed a draft bill with a modest list of possible mandates for repeal. I am attaching both documents for your review.
Legislative Hearings
Here are some of the hearings of interest next week:
FRIDAY, February 13, 2009
10:30 AM
K-12 Shared Services and Efficiencies Work Group
Room: 400S State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Marsha Swails
Agenda: Goals and focus of work group
MONDAY, February 16, 2009
3:00 PM
K-12 Integration Revenue Program Work Group
Room: 300S State Office Building
Chairs: Rep. Robin Brown, Rep. Jerry Newton
Agenda: Integration revenue program
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda:
S.F. 433-Bonoff: School finance alternative facilities bonding and levy program modification.
S.F. 511-Rosen: School districts alternative facilities bonding and levy program and deferred maintenance revenue program qualifications modification.
S.F. 464-Scheid: School districts statutory operating debt levy authority.
S.F. 430-Lynch: School districts debt service equalization state aid increase.
TUESDAY, February 17, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: Business community perspectives on education
Steve Waters, Vice President of Sales, Marathon Multimedia
Laura Eckholm, Senior Vice President, L & M Radiator
Chip Emery, retired CEO, MTS
Dick Pentingill, CEP Allina
TUESDAY, February 17, 2009
2:45 PM
K-12 Education Finance Division
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: Special education task force report
TUESDAY, February 17, 2009
4:30 PM
Committee: Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik
Agenda: Presentation by the Department of Human Services and counties on basic sliding fee childcare.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: MDE: Education portion of the federal stimulus
WEDNESDAY, February 18, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF314 (Mariani) Compulsory attendance age increased to 18. HF439 (Norton) Statewide academic standards required for physical education.
Thursday, February 19, 2009 - 8:30 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: Growth & Justice: Smart Investments in Minnesota's students
MONDAY, February 23, 2009
9:30 AM
K-12 Mandate Reduction Work Group
Room: 500S State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Tom Tillberry
Agenda: Review of draft mandate reduction bill
Thursday, March 5, 2009 - 8:30 AM
Committee on Finance
Chair: Sen. Richard J. Cohen
8:30 a.m. Room 123 Capitol
Agenda: February Forecast Briefing:
State Economist Tom Stinson
Commissioner Tom Hanson, Minnesota Management and Budget
February 12, 2009
Deal Reached on Federal Stimulus Bill
As you have no doubt heard by now, a deal has been agreed to on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We are still trying to track down details and will have pass along information to you as soon as we are able. It appears there is good news and bad news. Increased IDEA and Title I funding is included in the agreement however, school construction funding was greatly scaled back as was money for a State Stabilization Fund to help alleviate cuts to public education. We are still trying to find out what language was included related to the maintenance of effort and supplement/not supplant issues.
Here are some links to related stories:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/politics/12stimulus.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/11/AR2009021101836.html?hpid=topnews
February 11, 2009
Latest on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
I am enclosing documents prepared by the National School Boards Association and the American Association of School Administrators. I especially encourage you to review the key talking points in the AASA document and the letters AASA’s Mary Kusler sent to House and Senate leaders. If you haven’t already done so, please contact your congressional representative and let him/her know that it is critical that the final bill include the language that allows the Secretary of Education to grant waivers to states and local school districts in the area of supplement/supplant and maintenance of effort contained in the Senate version of the bill. Time is of the essence as President Obama and congressional leaders want to have agreement on a final package by the end of the week.
Thanks for your help!
Senator Amy Klobuchar
202-224-3244
Rep. John Kline
202-225-2271
Rep. Erik Paulsen
202-225-2871
https://forms.house.gov/paulsen/contact-form.shtml
Rep. Betty McCollum
202-225-1968
http://www.mccollum.house.gov/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={AC61FD79-AD5F-440D-A7F0-555B12349E5B}
Rep. Keith Ellison
202-225-4755
http://ellison.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87
Rep. Michele Bachmann
202-225-2331
http://bachmann.house.gov/Contact/ZipCode.htm
February 10, 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The Senate is expected to give final approval to its version of the stimulus legislation today. House and Senate conference committee members will then need to reach a compromise on the two competing bills. This will not be an easy task as there are significant differences between the House and Senate versions. I am attaching a copy of a letter that has been signed by Congressman Tim Walz and Congressman Keith Ellison urging House leaders to maintain the funding levels for education contained in the House bill. The letter provides some excellent talking points you can use in your own communications to your congressional representatives.
February 9, 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Those of you who were in attendance at Congresswoman’s McCollum’s forum this morning know that she made it clear that she needs our help in contacting members of our congressional delegation to urge them to support the level of funding for education contained in the House bill. The attached document prepared by the National Education Association shows the stark differences in the level of funding for education in the House and Senate bills. The document shows the education related funding proposed in the House bill, the original Senate proposal, and the adjusted Senate bill after the Collins/Nelson amendment was adopted.
Please contact Senator Amy Klobuchar and your U.S. House Member and urge them to:
Include in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the level of education funding in the House bill
Here is contact information for our congressional delegation:
Senator Amy Klobuchar
202-224-3244
Rep. John Kline
202-225-2271
Rep. Erik Paulsen
202-225-2871
https://forms.house.gov/paulsen/contact-form.shtml
Rep. Betty McCollum
202-225-1968
http://www.mccollum.house.gov/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={AC61FD79-AD5F-440D-A7F0-555B12349E5B}
Rep. Keith Ellison
202-225-4755
http://ellison.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87
Rep. Michele Bachmann
202-225-2331
http://bachmann.house.gov/Contact/ZipCode.htm
February 7, 2009
U.S. Senate Reaches Compromise on Stimulus Bill
The United States Senate has reached a deal on the proposed federal stimulus legislation after lengthy negotiations. The senate compromise made significant reductions to the proposed education spending in the original senate proposal. The biggest reduction was a $40 billion cut from a proposed $79 billion fund aimed at helping states preserve education funding as they try to balance their budgets. Reductions were also made to Head Start funding and school construction grants. The compromise does still include increased funding for Title I and IDEA. The senate is expected to approve the measure on Monday or Tuesday and then a conference committee will be appointed to reconcile differences between the house and senate versions. A compromise may not be easy to achieve as many house members are not happy with the reductions the senate made.
We will get an update on the differences between the two proposals form Congresswoman Betty McCollum at the Town Hall Forum AMSD is sponsoring on Monday – see attached flyer. In addition, we will send out updated talking points and we will be asking for your assistance in contacting members of our congressional delegation in the coming days.
Here are links to related stories:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/us/politics/07stimulus.html?_r=1&hp
Charter School Proposal
AMSD has been a part of a working group formed by the Department of Education to draft legislation addressing concerns that have been raised around charter schools. A report issued last summer by the Legislative Auditor identified several concerns - http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2008/charterschools.htm
I am attaching a draft of the legislation that is expected to be introduced next week.
Legislative Hearing Schedule
As I reported yesterday, legislative leaders have announced a series of forums around the state to gather public input about the Governor’s budget recommendations and to seek ideas for solving the state budget shortfall. Here is a list of the hearings scheduled for the metro area:
Monday, February 23
Woodbury
6:00 p.m.
Central Park Amphitheater, 8595 Central Park Place
Tuesday, February 24
Bloomington
7:00 p.mm
Bloomington City Hall, 1800 W Old Shakopee Rd
Minneapolis
6:00 p.m.
Minneapolis Park Board, 2117 West River Road
Wednesday, February 25
Burnsville
7:30 p.m.
Fairview Ridges Hospital, 201 E. Nicollet Blvd
White Bear Lake
6:30 p.m.
White Bear Lake High School - South Campus, 3551 McKnight Rd N
Thursday, February 26
St. Paul
6:00 p.m.
West Minnehaha Rec. Center in Frogtown, 685 Minnehaha Ave W
Plymouth
7:00 p.m.
Plymouth City Hall, 3400 Plymouth Blvd.
Coon Rapids
7:00 p.m.
Coon Rapids City Hall, 11155 Robinson Drive
Forest Lake
TBD
February 6, 2009
Federal Stimulus Proposal
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act did not come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate yesterday as negotiations over the bill continued into the night. Senate leadership is hoping to bring the bill up for a vote this evening and there continues to be a battle over reducing the overall price tag of the bill and eliminating or reducing some of the money targeted for education programs. Senator Amy Klobuchar has been opposing those who want to cut the education funding in the bill. Please call or email her to thank her for her support and urge her to continue to oppose the Collins/Nelson amendment and other attempts to cut education funding from the stimulus proposal.
United States Senator Amy Klobuchar
202-224-3244
Talking points:
Here are links to articles of interest related to the federal stimulus proposal:
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/congress/39195142.html?page=1&c=y
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ggZpWyW-Ah6rORr2qLgfRqw2uZSAD96136PO0
Education Funding on the Table
Governor Pawlenty and legislators are anticipating that the next budget forecast, scheduled to be released on March 4, will show an even larger projected budget shortfall. Most expect the projected shortfall to grow by an additional $1 billion or more bringing the total shortfall to $6 billion or more for the 2010-11 biennium. Consequently, more legislators are warning that education cuts will have to be on the table. Here is a link to a related story:
http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_11640597?nclick_check=1
The AMSD Legislative Committee met this morning and discussed ideas for trying to address this reality proactively. We will be inviting further discussion on this topic at the next AMSD Board meeting next Friday, February 13. Our guest speakers next week will be Senator Taryl Clark and Rep. Nora Slawik. They will provide a legislative update especially focused on early childhood proposal the legislature will be considering this session.
Legislature Going on the Road
House and Senate leaders have announced that they intend to hold hearings throughout the state on the Governor’s proposed budget and to solicit input from citizens about how to solve the state budget shortfall. The hearings are a joint effort by the House and Senate. Hearings will be held in rural Minnesota on February 19 and 20 as follows:
The schedule for Thursday, Feb. 19 will be:
The schedule for Friday, Feb. 20 will be:
The Senate Tax Committee will meet at 12:30 p.m. at Minnesota State University Moorhead, Comstock Union, 1104 7th Ave. S., Moorhead.
The Legislature will also be holding town hall meetings in the metro area the week of February 23. Details have not been released but cities identified for hearings include: Apple Valley, Burnsville, Bloomington, Plymouth, White Bear Lake, Plymouth, Lino Lakes, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake, Woodbury, St. Paul and Minneapolis. I will forward more specific information as soon as it is available.
Committee Deadlines Approved by the House
The House has approved the following deadlines for the 2009 session: • March 27 at 8 p.m., 1st deadline - committees act favorably on bills in the House of origin; In addition, House and Senate leaders said it is their intention to send all budget, finance and tax bills to the Governor by May 12 – six days before the Legislature must adjourn according to the state constitution. Legislative Hearings of Interest Next Week |
MONDAY, February 9, 2009
10:30 AM
Joint Committee: State Property Tax System Benchmarks and Critical Indicators Working Group
Room: 400S State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Denise Dittrich
*** Note: *** Change in Agenda
Agenda:
Discussion of Minnesota's Property Tax System, issues of progressivity and the general principles by which a property tax system can be judged. Attendees will be asked to provide input regarding nine different features of Minnesota's Property Tax System.
Monday, February 9, 2009 - 3:00 PM
Charter School Working Group
Chair: Sen. Kathy L. Saltzman
3 p.m. Room 15 Capitol
Agenda: Charter Schools and nonprofit building companies
TUESDAY, February 10, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: Presentation of Governor's College of Education Reforms Testimony from Colleges of Teacher Education, U of M researcher, the Bush Foundation
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 9:00 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
9 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: S.F. 142-Sieben: Independent school district #200, Hastings; alternative facilities bonding and levy program eligibility.
S.F. 68-Kubly: Independent school district #2853, Lac qui Parle Valley; fund transfer authorization.
S.F. 327-Koch: School districts staff development revenue use for CPR and automatic external defibrillator training.
TUESDAY, February 10, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: HF2 (Greiling) School finance system modified, and new education funding framework created.
WEDNESDAY, February 11, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: Presentation of Governor's State of Minnesota Mid-Career Alternative Route to Teaching (SMART) proposal
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 9:00 AM
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
9 a.m. Room 112 Capitol
Agenda: S.F. 344-Jungbauer, M. J.: Compensatory revenue pilot project continuance and appropriation for certain school districts.
S.F. 86-Bonoff: Alternative teacher compensation aid calculation for intermediate school districts modification.
S.F. 343-Jungbauer, M. J.: Alternative teacher compensation long-term commitment levy and revenue program expansion.
WEDNESDAY, February 11, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: Current and potential student assessment costs
THURSDAY, February 12, 2009
8:30 AM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: SciMathMN presentation on setting priorities for STEM education, recommendations from Minnesota's TIMSS participation Discussion of Math and Science Teacher Academies
THURSDAY, February 12, 2009
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling
Agenda: Permanent School Trust Land management update
HF104 (Dittrich) Permanent school fund revenue required to be set aside for school technology purposes.
THURSDAY, February 12, 2009
4:30 PM
Committee: Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik
Agenda:
HF179 (Davnie) Head Start program modified
HF203 (Slawik) Minnesota child savings account initiative established, and money appropriated HF276 (Slawik) Dependent care credit modified
February 3, 2009
Q Comp Evaluations Released
Two evaluations of the Q Comp Program were released today – one conducted by the Office of the Legislative Auditor and another evaluation commissioned by the MDE which was conducted by Hezel Associates. I am including links to the respective reports below. The Senate E-12 Finance and Policy Committee heard the Legislative Auditor’s report this morning. It is quite clear that Q Comp will be a major battle line this session between the Governor and the Legislature. On the one hand we have the Governor’s proposal to expand Q Comp statewide and on the other hand it is likely that we will see legislative proposals to either freeze or perhaps abolish the program.
http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2009/qcomp.htm
http://education.state.mn.us/mde/index.html
GRAD Proposal Introduced
A proposal aimed at addressing the potential issue of thousands of high school seniors being denied a diploma because they did not pass the GRAD test has been introduced. SF 405 was introduced yesterday and provides an alternative pathway to graduate from high school in the absence of attaining a passing score on the GRAD test. A working group comprised of legislators, MDE staff and stakeholders continues to wrestle with a long-term solution. End of course exams continue to be a topic of discussion although an agreement has not yet been reached. Here is a link to SF 405:
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=S0405.0.html&session=ls86
Congresswoman McCollum Town Hall Forum
Don’t forget to RSVP for the town hall forum featuring Congresswoman Betty McCollum. See the attached flyer for details.