- Avoiding favoritism in the workplace
- Breaking the grip of teens' loneliness and isolation
- A father gives online advice to college students
- Mathematics grading reform in a Maryland middle school
- An English instructor's lament about generative AI
- Four provisos when using artificial intelligence
- Tips for parents on kids' cellphones and screen time
- Data on school-parent communications
- Graphic novels featuring grandparents
- David Brooks on how giftedness plays out in people's lives
- Antiracism PD - necessary but not sufficient
- Should new leaders hit the ground running or take it slow?
- Dealing thoughtfully with employees who are upset
- What makes a career and technical education program effective?
- Principles of good teaching are alive in effective CTE programs
- Award-winning children's book
- Is college worth it?
- Can extrinsic rewards boost students' motivation to read?
- A teacher's dilemma on using A.I. to grade students' writing
- What human-type teachers can do that A.I. can't
- The nuts and bolts of launching a no-cellphone policy
- How supervisors might follow up after short classroom visits
- Doug Lemov's rigor checklist
- The benefits of debate and debate pedagogy for high-school students
- Supporting middle-school students who lack basic literacy skills
- Does choral reading help with fluency?
- The story behind the song "Blackbird"
- A tribute to Adele Faber
- The way teachers spend classroom time really matters
- Teachers' reactions to a nationwide math test in Austria
- Dilemmas faced by male Latino teachers
- This year's college admissions Hunger Games
- Should decodable texts be used in primary-grade reading classes?
- Four keys to successfully resolving workplace conflicts
- Effective closure for one-on-one meetings
- Concerns about incoming college students' reading and writing skills
- Can ChatGPT accurately assess students' writing?
- How to assess early reading: word identification or nonsense words?
- Does Liljedahl's pedagogy have the same problems as constructivism?
- Asphyxiation in the dorm room
- Books about incarcerated family members
- Teacher efficacy and New York City's performance evaluation process
- Which assessments are vulnerable to AI cheating - and what to do
- Ideas for using ChatGPT in literacy classes
- Should we analyze and score individual reading standards?
- The effects of school cellphone bans in Norway
- Skillfully handling one-on-one conferences
- Picture books about bittersweet goodbyes
- $40/pupil for School Districts for costs related to the Read Act, allowable uses under literacy incentive aid
- $36/pupil for teacher stipends for time spend on Read Act training
- Extension of deadlines for Read Act training
- Cooperative educational programs included in Read Act funding
- Delaying the civics requirement by one-year
- District budget reserve established for Student Support Personnel Aid
- Expanded MA billing for School Social Workers
- 5,200 additional VPK slots
- Cooperatives included in ALC Transportation Aid
- Student Teacher Stipend pilot program funded $6.5M
- Teacher Compensation Working Group
- Paraprofessional qualifications examined and flexibility added, ensuring that paras meet federal highly qualified requirements for next school year
- PELSB online licensing system funded at $2.7M
- Special Education Reciprocity Work Group
- Expanding the special education pipeline grant program to other licensure tiers
- Special ed paperwork reduction = districts can now do a stand-alone developmental assessment for physical education
- Absenteeism = Student attendance pilot project sites funded $4.7M (legislative work group established)
- Promise Fellows funded $625,000
- MN Youth Council funded $375,000
- State Health Standards to be created through rule-making process, MN Youth Council participation
- English Language Learner Task Force
In This Issue:
by Donalyn Miller and Teri S. Lesesne
Click here for summary.
by Karen Gazith
Click here for summary.
In This Issue:
In This Issue:
In This Issue:
In This Issue:
In This Issue:
The 2024 legislative session ended at midnight Sunday. (Both chambers were disrupted by loud yelling and screaming until the clock struck midnight.) In the end, the majority of the bills the Democrats wanted were passed. The Republicans were complaining, rightfully, about how they were passed. A basic rule of practice at the legislature is that the minority is entitled to a voice and the majority is entitled to process its business. These two rules were on a collision course all weekend.
The end of session always has some risk of chaos, and this year was no exception. For starters, the Democrats held a one vote majority in the Senate, 34-33. Late in the session, Senator Nicole Mitchell was arrested for burglary. This resulted a significant disruption of Senate business as Republicans repeatedly called for her resignation or expulsion. Senator Mitchell quietly sat in the chamber for the remainder of the session.
Motions fail on tie votes. As a result, every democrat vote is required to pass their bills. One democratic senator held out for a specific bill on Saturday, interrupting Senate business for several hours. In the end, he got what he wanted.
On the last night of the session, (at 10:30 PM) nine bills were rolled into the Tax conference committee report. Lobbyists were furiously looking up bill numbers as they were included in the massive document with barely an hour to go in the session. The 1,432-page report was signed at 10:50 PM and passed by the House and Senate within an hour. Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to shout down the processing of the bill. The last bill under consideration was a bill to fund construction projects. The clock ran out in the Senate during the vote, so the bill died.
This session will be known for the passage of several important bills. The reinstatement of school liaison officers was a significant achievement. The additional funding for the READ Act will provide some assistance to school districts as teachers are trained in new skills. Smaller bills, important to many groups, were passed largely unnoticed.
The legislature failed to complete one of its primary responsibilities, passage of a bonding bill. The bonding bill takes a super majority, in effect a combination of Democrat and Republican votes requiring old fashioned compromise. The two sides had a general agreement on which projects should be funded, but the nonresolution of other non-bonding issues prevented the bill from going forward.
Two high profile initiatives that did not pass were the Equal Rights Amendment and the sports betting bill. The ERA passed in the House on Saturday. Unfortunately, by the time it passed the House the Senate lacked the floor time to take it up. The sports betting proposal also failed to get time in the spotlight. It was on the House floor, but again, time ran out before it could be taken up. Needing some work, the bill couldn’t be added into the tax conference committee report.
One disappointment is pensions. The effective date of last year’s change of the normal retirement age to 65 was moved to July 1,2024. (It had been July 1, 2025). That was pretty much the pension bill.
On the financial side, leadership did it’s best to lower expectations for the session. So very few financial initiatives survived this session. The legislature did pass several educational proposals affecting principals.
The proposals for tracking removal of students from class was modified to encourage the adoption of a policy. Several proposals on handling sudden cardiac events were modified to require a policy. Of course, students can now write about anything in the school paper—if there is a school paper to write in. Mandatory state health standards are now in the works. MSHSL must train coaches on eating disorders. MASSP and MESPA will develop and share cell phone policies with schools. And there’s more.
Here’s a general list that the education lobbyists all contributed to:
Read Act Improvements
Other Policy Improvements stemming from 2023
Addressing Staffing Needs
Special Education
Addressing Student Issues
Instead of a book summary this month, The Main Idea created materials to run a "Book Gallery".
Click here for 3-Step Guide.
Click here for Book Gallery Handout (for staff to take notes and decide on a book).
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