Association of Metropolitan School Districts Update
March 5, 2010
Orfield Presentation
You can download Myron Orfield's presentation from AMSD's March 5 Board of Directors Meeting by clicking here. In addition, here is a link to the Institute on Race and Poverty web site where you can access the full integration proposal as well as the charter school study completed by the IRP.
Race to the Top
Here is a story you may find interesting that ran in MinnPost about the state not making the list of finalists for the Race to the Top program:
Governor’s Education Bill Introduced
Governor Pawlenty’s Education Finance Bill and the MDE’s education policy bill have been introduced in the House. The finance bill codifies the property tax recognition and school aid payment shifts that the Governor implemented through the unallotment process last spring. The bill includes several of the initiatives the Governor proposed last session and also includes a major change to teacher tenure. The bill would require that tenure be renewed once every five years and also aims to strengthen the induction period for new teachers. You can access the Governor’s finance bill here and the MDE policy bill here. Some other significant provisions in the bill include:
• Strengthens teacher preparation in elementary
math and requires teaching candidate to pass a math content
exam.
• Requires online pedagogy and completion of at least one online
course for all teacher licensure candidates.
• Monitors the
effectiveness of teacher and administrator programs using student performance
data that is linked to the teachers and administrators who have graduated from
their institutions’ teacher/administrator prep programs.
• Incorporates
national standards for effective school leadership into the licensing standards
for principals.
• School
districts must report negotiated contract settlements to MDE for public
consumption. Information collected would include salary, benefit, retirement
costs and total package percentages for contact.
• Redesign English Language
Proficiency standards adopted in 2003 with minor adjustments in 2005.
The
bill would also amend the length of school year requirement from a specified
number of days to a specified number of hours as follows:
• 425 hours for kindergartners without
a disability.
• 935 hours for students grades 1-6.
• 1020 hours
for students grades 7-12.
Bill Tracker
You can access AMSD’s bill tracker at our web site. The bill tracker is an inventory of virtually all of the education related bills that have been introduced this biennium. Click here to find the bill tracker.
Upcoming Legislative Hearings
Next week will be extremely busy as the first committee deadline is Friday, March 12. Here is a list of some hearings of interest scheduled for next week:
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 8:30 AM
Meeting Time Note: The committee will recess at
10
a.m. and reconvene at
6
p.m. in the Basement
Hearing Room.
K-12 Education Policy and Oversight
Room:
Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani
Agenda: HF2986 (Hornstein) Responsible family life and sexuality education program created.
HFXXXX (Doepke) Board of teaching rulemaking authorized.
HF2995
(Tillberry) Diagnosis qualifications of attention deficit disorder or attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder expanded.
HF3267
(Newton) Advisory task force established on school
desegregation and integration.
HFXXXX (Newton) Clarifying requirements for a conciliation conference;
MDE directed to amend two special education rules.
HF2962
(Fritz) Minnesota Academy for the Deaf and Minnesota Academy for the Blind provided trial placement.
HFXXXX
(Benson) School district mandates reduced.
Meeting Documents: HFXXXX (Doepke)
Board of teaching rulemaking authorized.
HFXXXX (Newton)
Clarifying requirements for a conciliation conference
HFXXXX (Benson)
School district mandates reduced.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 8:30 AM
Agenda
Committee on Education
Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf
8:30 a.m.
Room 112 Capitol
Agenda:
MDE Presentation: The ACCESS System: Achieving College and Career Readiness for Every Student's Success
S.F. XXXX (Wiger) - College and Career Readiness Policy Institute Working Group assessment and accountability recommendations.
S.F. 2610-Anderson: Graduation required assessment for diploma (GRAD) language arts and reading paper-and-pencil format for retaking test authorization.
S.F. XXXX (Wiger) Minnesota Department of Education policy and technical bill.
TUESDAY, March 9, 2010
10:30 AM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Ann
Lenczewski
Agenda: Presentation of "Minnesota's Bottom Line: Better Results for Dollars
Spent"
Meeting Documents: Minnesota's
Bottom Line
Executive
Summary
Tuesday, March 09,
2010
K-12 Finance Committee
Chair: Rep. Mindy
Greiling
2:45 PM, 10 State Office Building
AGENDA: HF3176 (Slocum) Charter school provisions
modified, commission created, and charter schools permitted to borrow
money.
TUESDAY, March 9, 2010 - 4:30 PM
Early Childhood Finance and Policy
Room: 200 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Nora Slawik
Agenda:
HF3088 (Hayden) Children and family service technical and policy provisions changed, Minnesota family investment program and adult supports provisions changed, and child welfare provisions changed (pending passage from Civil Justice)
HF3209 (Greiling) Child care centers required to develop a risk reduction plan, and the term nonmaltreatment mistake defined. HF3239 (Abeler) Licensing provisions changed, and background study requirements, disqualifications, and data classification modified (pending passage from Civil Justice)
HF3407 (Slawik) Early childhood education provided
WEDNESDAY, March 10,
2010 -
8:30
AM
Meeting Time
Note: If the committee does not complete its agenda by
10:00
AM, it will recess and
reconvene at 6:00
PM in the Basement
Hearing Room of the State Office Building.
K-12 Education Policy and
Oversight
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos
Mariani
Agenda: MDE Presentation: The ACCESS System:
Achieving College and Career Readiness for Every Student's Success
HFXXXX
(Mariani) Establishing high school assessments to determine college and career
readiness.
Meeting
Documents: HFXXXX (Mariani)
Establishing high school assessments to determine college and career
readiness.
WEDNESDAY, March 10, 2010
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy
Greiling
Agenda:
HF3219
(Demmer) Independent School District No. 203, Hayfield, fund transfer permitted.
HF3303
(Garofalo) General education aid reduction restored for certain taconite
distributions.
THURSDAY, March 11,
2010 -
8:30
AM
Meeting Time
Note: If the committee does not complete its agenda by
10:00
AM, it will recess and
reconvene at 6:00
PM in the Basement
Hearing Room of the State Office Building.
K-12 Education Policy and
Oversight
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Carlos
Mariani
Agenda: HF3163 (Mariani) Prekindergarten through grade 12 funding provided, including general education, education excellence, special programs, and early childhood education.
THURSDAY, March 11, 2010
2:45 PM
Room: 10 State Office Building
Chair: Rep. Mindy
Greiling
Agenda: TRA pension proposal