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Legislative Update A Communication for Parents and Education Supporters in SEE Districts |
March 20, 2009 |
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If this is your first Legislative Update from SEE - Welcome! | |
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Budgets and Targets
The three budget proposals from the House, the Senate and the Governor are in. Both the House and the Governor have made education a priority in their budgets. The governor proposes to increase education funding slightly and the House is holding education "harmless". The three budget proposals have stark ideological differences. However, the legislature writes the legislation and the governor must sign it into law. All three bodies will need to work together, compromise and focus on the best interests of Minnesota.
With the release of these budgets, the individual committees can get to work in earnest. Each committee is assigned a "target" or dollar amount that matches the overall proposed budget. In the House, the Education K-12 Finance Committee must prepare an education omnibus bill that has a net 0% increase. The Senate Education Committee must craft an education omnibus bill that cuts 7% from last year's education spending. Once that work is complete, the House and Senate will meet in conference committee to reconcile their separate bills into one matching bill that can pass in both the House and Senate. The final education omnibus bill will then proceed to the governor for signature or veto. Given the diverging interests among the House, Senate and the Governor, the road to compromise is expected to be quite rocky. | |
Shared Services
The Senate's version of a shared services bill, SF10(Bonoff), was defeated on the Senate floor on a vote of 31-33. This bill mandated that every school district could only work with the cooperatives and service & purchasing agreements that are negotiated and approved by the state.
The House is moving a shared services bill as well. HF1665(Swails) passed out of the Education Committee and will proceed to the Finance Committee. Bipartisan co-authors, Representatives Marsha Swails and Carol McFarland surveyed school districts across the state to study the service cooperatives and purchasing groups that districts currently engage in. Not surprisingly, they found that districts have already organized and utilize these types of joint ventures to reduce costs. HF1665 seeks to build on these successes by providing a common sense tool without adding additional mandates. HF1665 would establish a internet-based resource center that will allow all districts to access the existing cooperatives and purchasing agreements and build on these initiatives to create more ways to save dollars through shared services. |
Pre Labor Day Start
HF195(Norton) would allow districts to begin school before Labor Day for the next two years. The bill failed in the Finance Committee which stops its progress as a stand-alone bill. Yet the next day in the House K-12 committee, the provision was amended to HF920(Tillberry), the mandate reduction bill. HF920 was laid on the table for possible inclusion in the education omnibus bill.
It is possible that districts may be able to begin school before Labor Day if this provision is included in the education omnibus bill. However, the education omnibus bill is typically the last bill to be passed in a legislative session. The earliest we will know about pre-labor day starts would be mid-May if the session ends on time. More likely with the magnitude of the deficit and the diverging priorities among leadership, special sessions will be required that could linger into late summer or early fall. It's anyone's guess when the session will really end.
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Some Other Bills to Watch Last summer, the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) released a report on Charter Schools and concluded: "We evaluated the performance, oversight, and accountability of charter schools. We found that, in general, charter schools do not perform as well as district schools; however, after accounting for relevant demographic factors and student mobility rates, the differences in student performance were minimal. Additionally, we found that charter school oversight responsibilities are not clear, leading to duplication and gaps in oversight. We recommend the Legislature clarify the roles of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and sponsors (organizations that authorize, monitor, and evaluate charter schools) and that MDE implement standards for sponsors. We also recommend that the Legislature strengthen conflict of interest laws for charter school boards." HF935(Slocum/SF867(Saltzman) incorporates the recommendations from the OLA report.
Minnesota is the only state that does not have an elected official to oversee the state's education system who would be held accountable for a clear vision for our schools. The Commissioner of Education is a political appointee of the governor. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has endured budget cuts and now primarily works on testing and assessments. No un-biased entity evaluates education policy and programs based on research and evidence to determine if education policy is successful and meeting the needs of Minnesota students. SF1109(Rummel)/HF1186(Mariani) establishes a center for legislative educational analysis, research and navigation to provide the legislature with research, analysis and policy guidance in PK-12 education.
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If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Working together, we can make a difference.
Deb Griffiths
Director of Communications and Community Outreach
Schools for Equity in Education
612-309-0089
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Upcoming Scheduled Education Committee Meetings
These committee meetings were current when published but schedules are very fluid at the legislature. If you plan on visiting a committee meeting, verify the agenda by clicking on the links below.
In the Senate . . .
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf 8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol Agenda: S.F. 620 Kelash School district health and safety revenue allowable use for elevator repair costs. S.F. 786 Metzen School district health and safety revenue use for playground safety, accessibility, safe surfacing, play and fitness equipment and maintenance costs. S.F. 1390 Bonoff Wind energy production tax deduction school district retention and permanent school trust fund allocation. S.F. 249 Dahle School boards wind energy conversion systems business entity formation authorization. Thursday, March 26, 2009E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division Chair: Sen. LeRoy A. Stumpf 8:30 a.m. Room 112 Capitol Agenda: S.F. 1649 Clark Educational quality rating and improvement system; prekindergarten exploratory projects and appropriations. In the House . . .
K-12 Education Finance Upcoming Meetings
TUESDAY, March 24, 2009 2:45 PM Room: 10 State Office Building Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling Agenda: HF116 (Ward) Type III school bus driver qualifications modified. HF466 (Carlson) State Board of Education established. HF106 (Swails) P-20 education partnership established. WEDNESDAY, March 25, 2009
2:45 PM Room: 10 State Office Building Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling Agenda: HF1150 (Urdahl) Special education aid through base year funding reinstated. HF1174 (Kiffmeyer) Local education agency defined for special education purposes. HF895 (Eken) Rural school district grant program created to allow the sharing of services, and money appropriated. HF1665 (Swails) Education; Best practices center for shared services established. THURSDAY, March 26, 2009 2:45 PM Room: 10 State Office Building Chair: Rep. Mindy Greiling Agenda: HF501 (Mariani) Alternative graduation means created for students, and graduation exams studied. HF1376 (Buesgens) Education; Compensatory revenue concentration factor eliminated. K-12 Policy and Oversight
TUESDAY, March 24, 2009 8:30 AM Meeting Time Note: If necessary, the committee will recess and reconvene in 500N State Office Building at 6:30 p.m. Room: Basement State Office Building Chair: Rep. Carlos Mariani Agenda: HF648 (Mariani) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator instruction guidelines established. HF1667 (Mariani) Instruction of students temporarily placed outside of their district provisions modified. HF751 (Benson) School districts authorized to create site-governed schools, and money appropriated. HF981 (Bly) Charter school provisions amended, New Schools Minnesota commission established, private nonprofit corporation authorized.
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Committee Deadlines
Deadlines Set: It may seem like minutae, but the legislative deadlines often play a huge role in how the business of the legislature unfolds, especially near the end of session. This year, with the major budget challenges facing the state, the deadlines will likely take on even greater importance.
The deadlines are as follows:
First Deadline--Friday, March 27: Last day for policy committees to act favorably on bills in the house of origin (in English, last day for Senate policy committees to act on Senate Files and House policy committees to act on House Files).
Second Deadline--Tuesday, April 7: Last day for policy committees in either body to act favorably on bills or companions of bills that met the first deadline in the other house (in English, House policy committee may act upon HF XX if SF YY met the first deadline in the Senate).
Third Deadline--Thursday, April 16: Last day for House and Senate budget divisions to act favorably on omnibus education funding bills (This is the one the education community watches most closely, as Senator Stumpf and Representative Greiling will have to have the omnibus K-12 bills out of their divisions no later than this day).
Fourth Deadline--Wednesday, April 22: Last day for Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee to act favorably on an omnibus appropriations and tax bills.
Fifth Deadline--Thursday, May 7: Conference committee reports on omnibus appropriations and tax bills must be reported to the floor. This is new for this year and will give the Legislature nine working days to pass their major funding and tax bills and send them to the Governor for signature or veto. | |
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