Ensuring that a quality teacher is in every classroom continues to be the focus of the education committees.  Over the next 10 years, 25,000 or one-half of the Minnesota's current teachers will leave the profession through retirement or career changes.  The philanthropic Bush Foundation views this as a tremendous opportunity to impact the quality of education in Minnesota by guaranteeing that every new teacher placed in the classroom is highly effective in increasing student achievement.   Peter Hutchinson from the Bush Foundation testified before the House education committees, reviewing the 10 year, $40 million initiative to partner with 14 higher-education institutions to fundamentally reform how teachers are recruited, prepared, placed and supported. 

The Senate Committee on Education took up the alternative teacher licensure issue by hearing testimony on the Teach for America (TFA) program.  TFA teachers are already working in Minnesota, mostly in the urban areas.   In some cases, the students in their classrooms are showing impressive growth in student achievement.  Providing a formalized way for teachers from programs like TFA to obtain a teaching license in Minnesota will not cure the achievement gap but it will give school administrators another tool in which to address the problem.  Read more on this issue.

For more detailed information on what is happening at the Capitol, check out Brad's Blog!