Bill waits for final House approval

Hockey could become Minnesota’s official state sport, physical education classes would once again be required in high school and school technology standards could be established. But this all hinges on the House passing the omnibus education policy bill and the governor deciding it should become law.

The conferred HF3316/SF3001* was approved by the Senate 45-20 on May 7 and sent to the House. As of this magazine’s press time May 8, it was awaiting action.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul) and Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL-Maplewood), would make hockey the state sport and add information about academic performance relative to the state growth norm and student engagement to the school’s academic report card.

Many of the controversial aspects of the bill were removed by the conference committee. Among them:

• a proposal for Responsible Family Life and Sexuality Education programs for high school students;

• an appeals process for schools not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act; and

• a three-year window in which high school students not passing the Graduation-Required Assessments for Diploma could appeal and possibly graduate on time.

Items in the bill include:

• allowing parents or guardians to designate another adult to participate in school conferences involving their child, and that person would have access to the same kind of information as a parent.

• providing teachers with instruction in American Indian education including information about teaching history and culture to all students; and

• requiring high school students to take half a credit of physical education, though students who demonstrated mastery of the subject matter or were participating in sports would not have to take the class.