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The Legislature continued to process bills as it moves toward its May adjournment. Despite all of the money in state coffers, this is not a budget year. If the parties cannot agree on spending by the end of session, the money will simply stay on the bottom line—there would not be any threat of government shutdown. That only occurs in the budget session, the first year of the biennium. So we are in a countdown.

The week started out with a bill on teacher prep time and closed with elementary discipline. (HF 3926 Keeler) The prep time bill would increase teacher prep time by approximately 25%, add prep time for extracurriculars, and require prep time be provided in one or two “uninterrupted blocks”. Nancy Antoine (principal Northfield) and Chuck Ochocki (principal South St. Paul) both testified on behalf of MESPA and MASSP. Nancy emphasized the importance of making prep time decisions locally. She talked about the need to protect instructional time. Chuck talked about the potential staffing problems the language would create. He estimated that his school would have to add several FTE’s to make up the lost instructional time. The bill was referred to the Education Finance Committee. The bill does not appear to be moving in the Senate.

On Wednesday the Pension Commission heard a bill that would suspend the earning limitations on retired teachers who return to teaching. (SF 2913 Bigham and HF Masin). The bill provides a three-year suspension of the earning limitations for retired teachers. Principals are included within the definition of “teacher” in the retirement statutes, so this covers everyone. The proposed expiration date is January 1, 2026. The bill had general support in the Pension Commission. We will continue to track its progress.

The Rule of 90 pension provisions have been introduced this year, but as of yet have not had a hearing. Pressure for a return to the Rule of 90 will continue to build in coming years, but at the moment, it is still in the discussion stage. The new legislature in 2023 will most certainly have this on the docket.

So what is the Pension Commission? All pension proposals are sent to the Pension Commission. This is a legislative anomaly—one designed to add special scrutiny to all proposed pension legislation. Pension bills must go through the Commission before they can be considered in House or Senate Committees. The commission has both house and senate members and has an independent staff. the primary purpose of the Commission is to make recommendations to legislative committees.

The Senate heard several bills on special education, one with an interesting “voucher” type component. The Senate also heard a bill on lead testing in schools. The bill (SF 3956 Chamberlain) always generates an interesting discussion. I’ve learned that the major source of lead can be the solder, and not the pipes themselves. Lead free solder was not required until 1986.

On Wednesday the House Finance Committee heard the Governor’s proposed budget for education. The education community testified in unison and thanked the Governor for his support. In the next three weeks, the House will release its education bill and we expect it to incorporate a significant portion of the Governor’s financial proposals.

Today the house education policy committee heard two elementary discipline bills. HF 951 (Richardson) prohibits K-3 suspensions (except in very rare circumstances). HF 3402 (Edelson) limits the ability to withhold recess or delay lunch. It would also require that every instance of withholding recess be reported to the department. We are tracking these bills closely.

As we move through the session, the policy committee meetings will come to a close. Committee meetings and floor sessions are the public portion of legislative process. But there is much more that is never seen. Much legislative work goes on behind closed doors. It is generally a surprise to many, but the Legislature is not subject to the Open Meeting Law and the Data Practices Act. As a result, the parties meet privately, plot strategy, debate issues and decide quite often what will pass and what won’t. It is not by chance that the majority of votes line up along party lines. Generally, you fight with your own party behind closed doors and fight with the other party in public.

It is a complex process.

The week started out with the Minnesota State High School League before the House Education Policy Committee. Executive Director Erich Martens described the response of the League (and statewide organizations) to recent incidents occurring in schools and at activities. The presentation was well received by the committee. The committee also heard the bill modifying the League’s governing board structure.

The House held another hearing on the menstrual products access bill. (SF 3052 Cwodzinski and HF 2750 Feist). The state will fund the mandatory distribution of the products under the bill. This is one of the few bills this year that both the House and Senate appear to agree on.

The Senate heard a mix of bills on topics including Math Corps, substance abuse, and the Cambridge International Assessment Program.

The House heard the school board employment cap bill on Wednesday. It also heard a bill requiring new policies to prohibit malicious and sadistic conduct in schools (HF 3260 Hanson). The committee also heard a bill that would require the observance Indigenous Peoples Day and repeal references to Columbus Day (HF 2856).

Hearings will take place on several bills of interest to principals this week. Increasing teacher prep time will be heard today.(HF 3926 Keeler) Elementary discipline will be the topic in a rare Friday hearing.

The next two weeks are that last full weeks before the first committee deadline. Bills not heard by Friday, March 25, are generally dead for the session. (Yes, committee deadlines put the “dead” back in “deadline”.) The schedule for this week is already set, including the additional hearing on Friday so next week is the only open hearing space for hundreds of bills, far more than the time allotted for hearings. Authors (and lobbyists) will be quietly pleading with chairs and committee administrators to get their bills on agendas for next week. It’s never pleasant to be in desperation mode—but many people are at this point. The overwhelming majority of the 4,000 bills introduced during the biennium will be done in 12 days. Interestingly, bills will continue to be introduced, despite the ending of the committee hearings. Nothing stops legislators from “introducing” bills, not even the fact that the bill will not be heard.

To put some of this in context, despite meeting for 7 weeks, only 6 bills have been passed and sent to the Governor. And keep in mind that we have a $9 billion surplus.

While it is still early, some major issues are unresolved. Discussions on a pressing issue, the unemployment trust fund, continue to stall. Minnesota owes the federal government approximately $1.2 billion in unemployment reimbursements paid during the pandemic. It’s complicated, but everyone agrees the monies have to be repaid. The fight isn’t about the unemployment. The House wants bonus payments to 667,000 frontline workers—and has linked this to the unemployment issue. The two sides are about $775 million apart on the bonus payment question, so for the time being the unemployment payment is unresolved.

The week ended with the state hockey tourney. The attendance was back to normal, and the hockey was exceptional. The Governor attended Saturday night and participated in the games “play by play” for the second period of the AA final. He did pretty well for a former football coach.

It has taken quite a while, but it seems that things are getting back to normal.

On Monday that state received yet another report of an increase in the budget surplus. Previously it was projected that the state would end the biennium with a surplus of $7.75 billion. The new projection increased by $1.5 billion to $9.25 billion. These numbers are extraordinary difficult to comprehend. On one hand the surplus does protect schools from cuts in funding. The big question is whether the Republicans and Democrats can agree to spend some of the surplus in education. The answer will unfold as the session progresses.

On Monday the House Education Policy Committee heard the Governor’s policy bill, HF 3401 (Richardson). While technically called the “Governor’s bill”, in reality much of the content comes directly from the Department. The bill contains over 100 sections with new policy provisions covering a broad range of topics.

The bill prohibits any suspension of students in grade K through 3; requires non-exclusionary discipline before using in school suspension; monitoring of student withdrawal agreements by the department; and a requirements that suspensions not be imposed without using non-exclusionary discipline. Two mandates of significance include: (1) expanding the restrictive procedures statute to cover all students, not just students with a disability; and (2) mandating the provisions of the safe and supportive schools act. Currently the safe and supportive school act “encourages” districts to engage in practices that foster a safe and supportive environment. The new proposed language deletes “encouraged” and substitutes “must” resulting in the following new mandate:

(b) Districts and schools are encouraged to must:

(1) engage all students in creating a safe and supportive school environment;
(2) partner with parents and other community members to develop and implement prevention and intervention programs;
(3) engage all students and adults in integrating education, intervention, and other remedial responses into the school environment;
(4) train student bystanders to intervene in and report incidents of prohibited conduct to the school's primary contact person;
(5) teach students to advocate for themselves and others;
(6) prevent inappropriate referrals to special education of students who may engage in prohibited conduct; and
(7) foster student collaborations that foster a safe and supportive school climate.

The bill was laid over and will come back in a few weeks.

On Tuesday night legislators, lobbyists, staff, and friends gathered to honor Senator David Tomassoni. The Senator is quite ill with ALS. Governor Walz and former Governor Dayton both made appearances as well. It was quite a night and brought back many memories.

The Senate heard presentations on teacher training in reading programs on Monday.

On Wednesday the committee heard a bill expanding the Minnesota State High School League Board (SF 1252). This is necessary to accommodate the addition of two superintendents last year. Senator Rosen, the author of the bill, has been instrumental in working with MSHSL over the past years. The committee heard a key bill on Safe Schools revenue and programs. Authored by Senator Chamberlain, the chair of the committee, the bill will be on the list of items that may pass this year.

On Thursday the Senate debated one of the many parental rights bills. Senate File 2575 (Gazelka) amends the parental curriculum review statute, Minn. Stat. 120B.20. The bill has some technical problems, but still generated some interesting debate on the floor. The discussion underscores that schools are definitely a political “target” in the upcoming election year debates. The heat was evident on the floor during the discussion. In the end the bill passed along party lines.

The Senate floor session on Monday included a welcome from former Senator Gen Olsen. Senator Olsen is a former chair of the Senate Education committee. Senator Jazinski returned to the floor for the first time since his snowmobile accident four weeks ago. Both the House and Senate recognized the Russian attack on the Ukraine with personal stories and moments of silence. Senator Carla Nelson (current tax committee chair and former education chair) announced that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer but is now cancer free. The list of members retiring continued to grow. Representative Jen Schultz of Duluth and Rep. Mike Sundin of Esko, Carlton County, both announced they would not seek reelection.

Legislative hearings are still pretty sparse but that is starting to change.

Nice to have the state tournaments back.

Legislative hearings started the week with a group of students describing their experiences being harassed and bullied. The House Education Policy Committee heard stories of severe harassment, bullying, and other victimizations. Two bills basically served as the backdrop for the testimony. The first bill, (HF 3260-Hanson,J.) would require new policies prohibiting extreme forms of bullying. The second bill would require school districts to file annual certifications regarding the enforcement of bullying polices, completion of training requirements and compliance with other provisions of the bullying statute. The bill includes a $5,000 fine per incident for failure to comply with the requirements.

The inclusion of the civil fine raised several eyebrows. “Who would pay?” was a common question.

At the same time, the Senate Education Committee heard the Education Savings Account bill (also known as the voucher bill). In a dance that has been danced before, the education groups submitted a group statement opposing the bill (SF 1525, Chamberlain) and watched as the bill passed through the committee. The bill has little future in the House.

The committee heard an interesting bill regarding an archaic statute governing school board members’ employment. Minnesota law allows school districts to hire their school board members but limits the amount of compensation at $8,000 per year. No one actually knew when the amount was last changed—or where it came from for that matter. School board members from small schools talked about trying to find bus drivers, cooks and substitute teachers. On board member was coaching, working in the kitchen and subbing but had to stop when she reached the cap.

The proposal is to raise the amount to $20,000. Why not?

Later in the week the Senate heard bills on reading instruction and proficiency. One bill would add policies and staff to the regional centers for literacy support. The regional centers continue to develop as another level of the educational community.

The House Finance committee heard bills on school readiness, full-service community schools and the addition of mental health positions at the Department. Principal Joe Sage of Faribault Middle School testified in support of the full-service community schools bill. Always good to have a principal in the mix.

Much of the remainder of the week was spent bills covering math, science and reading. None of this is controversial. Ultimately, it is a question of how much money leadership will authorize to spend on new programs. Those decisions are a couple of months away.

As retirements continue, one member of note announced that she will not run for reelection. Representative Sondra Erickson will not be a candidate for reelection. First elected in 1998, Representative Erickson is in her 12^th term. She has chaired the Education Policy Committee multiple times and currently she is the minority lead on education. Representative Erickson is a strong advocate for schools and will be missed.

Monday the Governor’s policy bill will be heard in the House Policy committee. (HF 3401, Richardson). Over 118 pages in length, the bill contains several proposals that have been rejected in the past as well as a sprinkling of new proposals. It is a longstanding tradition that the chair of the committee authors the Governor’s policy bill. Keeping with that tradition, the bill’s author is the chair of the committee, Representative Richardson. On the Republican controlled Senate-side the companion is authored by Chair Chamberlain. If you look up the bill you will see the note the bill was introduced “by request”. Another tradition, signaling that the author does not necessarily support the bill.

I think everyone is glad this week is coming to an end.
Enjoy the sunshine.

In This Issue:

Radical ideas for preventing educators from joining the "big quit"
Rethinking how the Holocaust is taught
Orchestrating equitable - not equal - participation in class discussions
Downsides with popsicle-stick cold calling
Increasing access to advanced high-school courses
Books for Black History Month - and the rest of the year
Recommended children's series and text sets
Manga books featuring people with disabilities
A handbook for high-dosage tutoring
An infographic on where Americans were born 1850-2020

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Redistricting dominated conversations at the Capitol this week. The Democrats generally think the maps favor Democrats and interestingly, the Republicans think the maps favor the Republicans. That probably means that the maps, drawn by a panel of 5 judges, are fair. Also, it indicates control of both the House and Senate will be up for grabs in November.

This is not the main event though. On the individual level, conversations were very different and several incumbents have worried faces. Individual members were scrambling to assess the impact of new district boundaries. For political insiders, the story is high drama. The redistricting plan resulted in over twenty pairings in the House. Pairings occur when legislators who formerly represented one district find that new boundaries result in two legislators residing in the new district. More often than not, two legislators that are in the same party. In addition, 10 new seats with no sitting legislator have been created. So one of your colleagues has now become your competitor. Not fun if it is you.

The Senate has fewer pairings, but again, only has half as many members. Have the members with the same amount of angst.

When pairings happen legislators are faced with difficult choices. Some members simply retire and concede the seat. Another option, not often used, is to run in a primary against a colleague to secure the party endorsement for the district with redrawn boundaries. The final option, one that brings the most attention, is to move to a residence within the newly drawn boundaries. The constitution requires that the person “reside” in the district for six months prior to the election. Several legislators have already expressed the intention to move—sometimes to an apartment—in a new district. Some are retiring as well.

With redistricting as a backdrop, committees were busy as usual.

The week started out with the “parents bill of rights” in the Senate. Senate File 2909 is part of a national legislative initiative and much of the language in the bill shows it. The bill was paired back significantly by an amendment, but it did generate some highly entertaining testimony. The bill, as introduced, would have required posting on the district website of:

all instructional and training materials used by and for faculty;

all learning materials used for instruction of students; and

the title/author/organization/ and identification of any website associated with each material and activity used in the classroom or training.

The bill had much more, but an amendment removed the bulk of the provisions.

The remainder of SF 2909 is still of concern. The states bill that “Parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s minor child. The language goes on to provide:

The legislature further finds that important information relating to a minor child should not be withheld, either inadvertently or purposefully, from the child's parent, including information relating to the minor child's health, well-being, and education, while the minor child is in the custody of a school district. The legislature further finds it necessary for a school to establish a consistent mechanism for a parent to be notified of information relating to the health and well-being of the parent's minor child.

The bill also provides that schools cannot infringe on a parent’s fundamental rights.

It all raises the question—what impact this type of legislation would have on schools as we know them. What does it actually mean that parents have the right to direct the education of the child? Ultimately, if this language were passed, the courts would have to decide.

On Wednesday the Senate heard another bill designed to increase the number of substitute teachers by relaxing the requirements for short call substitutes. (Dornink SF 2861). The administrative groups representing schools favored the bill, while Education Minnesota and PELSB had issues. The bill passed and was sent to Finance. The committee also heard the LETRS bill, SF 2872. Authored by the Chair, Senator Chamberlain passionately underscored the importance of reading. The bill contains funding ($30 million) for grants related to Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS). LETRS is a professional development and teacher training program that focuses on the science of reading. The bill was passed and sent to Finance. Bills authored by the chair rarely fail to pass in committee.

The Senate hearings are a blend of zoom and in person. I testified on the short call sub bill—my first in person testimony is nearly two years. The hearing room was still pretty empty though as the majority of people participated on line.

On the House side, meetings continue to be held remotely. Monday’s Policy committee was dominated by HF 2750, requiring that school districts provide access to menstrual products at no charge. The bill was originally brought forward as a student idea. Over 30 members signed on as co-authors. The bill passed and was sent to finance. The House Finance committee heard the para training bill (again) in addition to a bill that would provide paid leaves for school employees for a list of “emergencies” or “health based” conditions. The committee also heard the Teachers of Color bill (HF 3709 Hassan) and the unemployment bill.

Representative Moller’s bill on comprehensive school mental health (HF 1083) was heard on Wednesday in the House. This bill creates two new positions at MDE to address mental health needs in schools for both students and staff.

This morning we learned that Congressman Jim Hagedorn passed away. Representative Hagedorn had suffered from kidney cancer for some time, but his death is still a shock. He was 59 years old. Keep his family in your thoughts.

Welcome back to another legislative session.

The session opened last week with some members in person and some participating remotely. It is a full two years since the pandemic began. That is a long time to be away from the place. As expected, the pandemic will continue to influence the proceedings throughout the year. The House is, for the time being, conducting business remotely while the Senate has adopted a “hybrid” approach. Even though the Senate is allowing some in person meetings, few people are at the capitol.

There were some memorable moments from the beginning of session. The most touching was Senator David Tomassoni’s return to the Senate chamber. Senator Tomassoni has always been a favorite at the capitol. The former hockey star from Chisholm, last year he announced that he has Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It was obvious to all that the disease is taking its toll on him. The warmth, love and respect that filled the Senate Chamber as he walked in last week was something rarely seen. An event honoring him is scheduled for March 1^st.

The two biggest stories at the capitol this year are retirements and the budget surplus. Both are unusually big numbers and both will significantly influence the proceedings. The budget surplus is far larger than anyone ever imagined. Minnesota’s economy is generating a $7.7 billion surplus for the biennium ending on June 30, 2023. The Governor announced a plan to spend a large portion of the surplus on education. Highlights include a 2% increase in the formula for the second year of the biennium; significant investments in early learning; and substantial improvements in mental health services for students.

To give you some sense of scope, the supplemental budget is significantly more than the Governor’s initial budget proposal of $775 million last year.

Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much, particularly spending. Key legislators began lowering expectations immediately after the Governor’s proposal was announced. It is a long way to May 23^rd, and with some luck, spring will thaw some of the colder hearts. Keep your fingers crossed on this. There is much competition for dollars in other areas. The unemployment compensation fund is a key target for dollars.

The second major story at the capitol is the retirement of members. Over twenty members have announced they will not be returning to legislative service. Most are simply leaving elected office while a handful are running for other positions. Longtime education favorites include Senator Greg Clausen, Representative Jim Davnie, Senator Chuck Wiger, Senator Susan Kent and Representative Paul Marquart.

Clausen is a former school administrator and has been a key advocate for education issues. Both Davnie and Marquart were teachers, bringing that experience to leadership positions. Davnie is Chair of Education Finance. Marquart is Tax Chair, having chaired Education Finance in the past. Wiger chaired Education in the Senate and is currently the minority lead. Kent most recently was the minority leader and has been a long-time member of the education committee. While their seats will be taken by new members, it will take years to build relationships with the people who follow them.

Last week the committees conducted overviews of several education topics. These hearings are typical and serve as a warm up as staff organize the schedules for the year. As always, the session appears long, committee time is limited, and members all jockey to get their bills heard. to that end, committee deadlines were announced.

First deadline – March 25, 2022
Second deadline – April 1, 2022
Third deadline – April 8, 2022

Bills that are not heard by deadline are dead for the session. Education policy committees meet twice a week, so you can see that with 12 meetings to go in the next 6 weeks, the vast majority of bills introduced will not be heard in committee. Of those that are heard, few will move forward this year.

This week the House heard the Governor’s proposal to ease restrictions on hiring substitute teachers. Authored by Representative Hassan, HF 2950 includes substitute teacher provisions as well as expansions of e learning days in the event of a major event. The language of the bill reflects the times we are in—“Crisis Online Learning Days” is not a phrase we want to hear. Part of the committee time was spent talking about how much damage a deer can do in a school. Really, I didn’t make that up.

The Senate Committee heard a presentation of the impact of social media and screen time on student mental health. This is of significant interest to Chair Chamberlain. Given that chairs play a major role in the final content of any legislation, this will likely be on any final list.

Super Bowl weekend. The last time the Vikings made the big show was 45 years ago, in 1977. The Bengals influence was pretty clear. Cincinnati public schools amended their academic calendar to give Monday off to students. I guess that is a problem we just won’t have any time in the future. Oh well.

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