Dear Neighbor,
Congratulations to the city of Paynesville for taking such swift action in naming the stretch of Highway 23 through town in honor of Kenneth L. Olson, a 1963 Paynesville High School graduate and war hero.
The legislation Sen. Fischbach and I authored allowing this honorary highway naming to happen was signed into law barely two weeks ago, but already a dedication ceremony is set to take place 2 p.m. June 10 at American Legion Post 271 (770 MN-23, Paynesville).
This is a great honor for a man who paid the ultimate price for his country, earning a posthumous Medal of Honor for his heroic sacrifice in Vietnam. I am honored to have carried the legislation that will help keep his legacy alive and I hope you can attend the dedication ceremony.
As for news from St. Paul, last time I covered key highlights of the $650 million in tax relief and historic investment in our roads and bridges which have now been enacted into law. Another bill from this year with major accomplishments pertains to K-12 education. Here are some details on that:
The K-12 omnibus finance package (SS HF 2) agreed upon by the Legislature and the governor includes $1.35 billion in new education funding over the current biennium, an increase of 2 percent each in both 2018-19. That equates to $245 more for each student. Also provided is funding for early learning initiatives, including scholarships and school readiness aid plus. The package also features legislation aimed at keeping the best teachers in the classroom and creating a new academic achievement initiative to help low-income students succeed in school.
Also approved for K-12 are measures aimed at improving the state’s current two-headed system of licensing teachers, which is dysfunctional and often is an impediment to teaching candidates. In some ways, our ineffective licensing system has contributed to the teacher shortage we are experiencing in our state – particularly in Greater Minnesota.
This subject of licensure reform appears to have become the subject of some public confusion and misunderstandings. Contrary to some misinformation that is circulating, the changes we implemented do not allow folks to simply walk off the street and into a classroom, pick up a piece of chalk and start teaching students without proper qualifications and procedures in place.
The plan we put in place follows recommendations put forward by the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) last year, which indicated that our teacher licensure system was in need of significant changes. In addition to the OLA recommendations, a bipartisan study group of legislators met during the 2016 interim to discuss moving Minnesota toward tiered licensure.
There are stringent guidelines in place for the new tiered system, including a provision which stipulates that a school must confirm that an acceptable Tier Two, Three or Four candidate was unavailable before hiring a Tier One candidate. The next section is admittedly a bit wonky, but I feel it is important to pass along to education-minded citizens an overview of the guidelines for what must take place before a new Tier One license may be issued:
- School District or Charter confirms and provides evidence of successful completion of criminal background check
- District/Charter affirms candidate has skills and knowledge to teach specified course
- District/Charter must confirm an acceptable Tier Two, Three or Four candidate was unavailable
- Candidate has completed a Bachelor’s degree (for non-CTE/Career Pathways)
- Candidate has completed 1 of the following to teach in CTE/Career Pathway:
- Associate’s Degree; or
- Professional Credential; or
- Five years of relevant work experience
- Teacher must participate in mentoring/induction and evaluation program including individual growth plan, including cultural competency
- Teacher must take a content exam and report results to the employing school district or charter school prior to 1st renewal (does not apply to CTE/Career Pathways)
- Renewal:
- PELSB must renew if a district/charter demonstrates it was unable to hire an acceptable Tier 2, 3 or 4 teacher and the teacher holding the Tier 1 license takes a content exam and provides results to the district/charter within one year of initial approval of Tier 1 license (Content exam does not apply to CTE/Career Pathways)
- Core Content Area: 3 times, unless the requesting district or charter school can show good cause for additional renewals
- CTE or Teacher Shortage Area: Unlimited renewals
- Limits: Limited to content matter indicated on the application, and limited to the district or charter school that requested the initial Tier 1
The bottom line is this new process is intended to lift some cumbersome barriers that have prevented qualified and motivated people from careers in education, while also helping schools place teachers in hard-to-fill positions. This bill provides clear requirements for licensure through its tiered approach and increased transparency. The process will be administered by a new Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board to ensure proper implementation and adherence to guidelines.
I hope this information helps clear up any questions or misconceptions people may have. Let me know if there is anything else I can provide on this or other issues.
Good luck,
Jeff