By Rep. Mark Anderson
People often use the word “Big” disparagingly. You know: “Big Oil,” “Big Government,” etc. In fact, Tom Hanks might want to rethink his movie character’s wish to be that B-word.
In that light, it is interesting how Democrats in St. Paul propose stripping local control from local schools and parents, putting important decisions in the hands of state bureaucracy. I sit on the House Education Policy Committee and I keep hearing proposals to do so.
It’s like they are establishing a brand-new B-phrase: Big State School Board.
I oppose their movement to have politicians in St. Paul and the Department of Education make decisions that should be in the hands of our citizens at the local level.
Take, for example, the anti-bullying bill that passed the House last year and is being revived in 2014. We all agree bullying has no place in our schools. That is why districts throughout the state already have anti-bullying policies in place, tailored to their particular needs. We do not need more layers of bureaucracy in St. Paul handing down unfunded mandates.
But this bill – aka the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act – is being pushed hard by special interests even though it is unnecessary, excessive, expensive and runs contrary to good parenting practices on our schools. It just gives more state control of what should be local decisions, bureaucrats thinking they know better than people in areas like ours. A few provisions in this proposal include:
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Creating a 24-member unelected board: State bureaucrats would be responsible for crafting bullying policies applicable to all Minnesota schools, rather than allowing for local control.
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Placing unfunded mandates on our schools: The Minnesota Office of Management and Budget (MMB) estimates the bill that passed last session would cost schools about $40-50 million dollars every two years to implement. The reason? Each school would be required to hire a staff member to handle all bullying reports, and compile and send that information to the School Climate Council.
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Failing to require parental notification. The bill passed the House last year, but a key provision requiring parent notification was stripped out by the Senate – and the bill stalled. It is highly concerning that, without this provision, there would be no requirement that a parent be notified if their child is accused of bullying.
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Requiring all school volunteers to undergo mandatory training to comply with the new state requirements. If you want to volunteer to work the concession stand at your child's ballgame, you would be required to have anti-bullying training.
The message in all this is that government does not believe parents and local citizens are capable of recognizing and appropriately responding to bullying unless they undergo state-run training.
This isn’t the only Big State School Board bill we are reviewing this session. Another one adds more recovery schools for students with substance abuse – with metro transit funding provided. Still another spends more money on ushering specific segments of our population toward college.
My overall concern is about the direction these policies take away local control – especially in Greater Minnesota – and put decisions in the hands of a relatively few bureaucrats.
Yes, we should aspire to have a globally renowned school system and the world’s best workforce. Local folks know what is best for our children to help give them those opportunities.
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