Dear Neighbor,
Since my last email, the governor has signed into law the complete series of omnibus finance bills approved by the Legislature to form the state’s budget for the 2018-19 biennium.
This was a highly productive year for the Legislature. Last week I detailed some of the highlights, including $650 million in tax relief and a historic investment in transportation, as well as bonding for two important St. Cloud projects. The K-12 finance package also has a good number of highlights I would like to touch on this time, both in terms of funding and in reform to strengthen our educational system.
The $1.35 billion funding increase for K-12 is a 2-percent increase in each of the next two years, which translates to $245 more for each student. Funding for early learning initiatives including scholarships and school readiness aid plus also is provided, including funding to continue District 742’s programs I got funded last year.
One important section of reform that was enacted overhauls our broken teacher licensure system, replacing the troubled Board of Teaching with a new Professional Educator License and Standards Board. This follows recommendations by the Office of the Legislative Auditor and the efforts of a bipartisan Teacher Licensing Work Group.
The current system has shown to be an impediment to teaching candidates, often exacerbating teacher shortages in our state, especially in Greater Minnesota. One thing that should be made very clear is the new tiered licensing system features a stringent set of guidelines for the new teaching tiers, 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.
Contrary to misinformation that is being perpetuated, changes to the licensing process will not create chaos by allowing virtually anyone to walk into a classroom and start teaching.
Again, the bipartisan plan we put in place follows recommendations put forward by the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) last year, which indicated that our state’s 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.
The goal of this change is to eliminate some roadblocks that have stood in the way of qualified, motivated candidates from achieving careers in education – while also helping school districts to staff hard-to-fill vacancies. Increased transparency will come to the licensing process, which will be administered by a new Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board to ensure proper implementation and guideline adherence.
Another important improvement made to the K-12 system this year is a repeal of the “last in, first out” default in state statute. The objective is to allow schools and local bargaining units to negotiate mutually beneficial staff retention decisions that better serve students, teachers and schools rather than adhering to past standards where layoffs were based strictly on seniority unless a different method was negotiated – which rarely happened.
On a final note, you may have heard the news that Gov. Mark Dayton this week took an unprecedented step to defund the Legislature through a line-item veto of its funding for the next two years. He says he did this in an effort to get the Legislature to agree to some changes in some of the bills the Legislature passed which the governor signed.
I have to believe it is unconstitutional for the governor to eliminate an entire branch of government over differing principles. The governor’s behavior is highly disappointing, especially in the wake of such a productive session. If he didn’t like things in the bills he signed (which we spent enormous time negotiating with him) he should have just vetoed them rather than now threatening to essentially dissolve the Legislature.
I anticipate the Legislature will seek outside legal counsel in an effort to defend your voice and your representation at the Capitol. Stay tuned for more as developments occur.
Sincerely,
Jim