A report to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) on the work of the Minnesota Legislature. By Charlie Kyte, Executive Director of MASA.
There are both a 10 minute audio podcast and a video for you to view above.
THE WINDS OF CHANGE:
In the 1980’s Minnesota passed a number of laws to address the ‘Demand’ side of K-12 Education. Included were laws allowing PSEO, Open Enrollment and Homeschooling. In the 1990’s Minnesota began passing laws to address the ‘Supply’ side of the equation. The biggest change was the passage of the Charter School law.
Now at the end of this first decade of the 21st Century, the winds of change are again blowing. There is widespread interest on the part of citizens to have more options provided for students and also to have schools be more focused on results. Once public opinion begins to shift, elected officials begin to react.
It is tempting to see new laws as flawed and thus be resisted by those within the existing systems. In K-12 Education, we will soon see new governance models emerging such as ‘site based’ contracting, changed delivery systems such as on-line learning and financial reward systems based on student success. We at MASA will work to have emerging legislation work as well as possible. But make no mistake about it, the winds of change are blowing!
THREE BUDGET POSITIONS…… NOW THE JOCKEYING WILL BEGIN:
I begin this section by reminding us all that the budget shortfall in Minnesota is huge…. About $7 billion. All of the efforts at the Capitol are to minimize cutbacks rather than adding any new funding anywhere.
Executive Branch position: Keep funding level for Higher Education, Public Safety, Veterans and the National Guard. Provide small increases in revenue for K-12 Education. Repeal/ roll back taxes on businesses as a way to possibly stimulate job growth. Use a number of shifts etc to bridge the budget gap.
Senate Position: Raise new revenues and make cuts across the board of about 7%. Create a 4 year balanced budget without too many accounting machinations.
House position: Keep funding level for K-12 and Higher Education, minimize cuts elsewhere and raise new revenues.
Summary: The analysis above is a very brief overview of the 3 positions. In reality each is considerably more complex. In each case, some amount of the Federal Stimulus money is used in one way or the other to help close the budget gap.
We will now see several weeks of the 3 bodies maneuvering with each other. After the Easter break, legislators will come back to begin to bring the positions together
WATCH THE TAX COMMITTEES:
Both the House and the Senate are proposing tax increases. Even the Governor is calling for revisions to the tax code. Thus much of the action in the next several weeks will be in the Tax Committees. Although any tax increases coming through the legislature will most likely be vetoed by the Governor, in the end of the session some additional revenue may be a part of the solution to the budget shortfall.
MASA has indicated from the very beginning that we would support reasonable revenue increases if necessary to fund critical functions of state government.
OTHER BILLS:
Nearly 2000 Bills have been introduced already this session. A good portion of these Bills pertain to education. However most will not progress through the legislative process (thank goodness!).
Bills making progress:
The 11th Grade GRAD Testing Bill, the Type III School Bus Bill, the Mandate Repeal Bill and a Bill to tighten up Charter School Sponsor rules are all making slow, but steady progress through both of the legislative bodies.
Emerging Bills:
Senator Stumpf is interested in creating a study group over the interim to look at a number of possible school governance models. He is especially interested in helping rural schools find some workable alternatives. There is another Bill that would encourage Districts to create contracted school sites staffed by an independent group of the Districts teachers. This Bill has merit and could be a model to use in mid size to larger Districts. It had a good initial Hearing in the House.
Bills that are stalled (temporarily?)
The Shared Services Bill as proposed in the Senate has been defeated on the Senate floor. It could still be brought back with some changes to it. A different approach is moving forward in the House. The House Bill is more of an enabling Bill that helps Districts to find and use shared service opportunities. We expect it to pass out of the House.
Even though there was great concern about the Senate version of this Bill, it is important for us all to recognize that we need to push the boundaries on sharing services, especially in these difficult times.
The ‘School Start prior to Labor Day’ Bill is limping along. It is difficult to tell if it will survive the challenges ahead of it.
Comments