This is a report to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) from Executive Director Charlie Kyte
The audio podcast is 12 minutes long. Just click the audio bar.
SPECIAL EDUCATION REGULATION HEARINGS WERE CONTENTIOUS
Last monday morning an Administrative Law Judge heard testimony about the newly proposed Special Education regulations being proposed by the MN Department of Education. Normally these type of Hearings last a couple of hours. Over 200 people including special education administrators and teachers showed up to testify. The testifiers did not finish until 7:00 in the evening. Although the Hearing lasted over 8 hours, many testifiers did not get a chance to testify.
There was much concern about these new regulations as they go well beyond federal guidelines. Although the MDE contended that the new regulations wouldn’t add to the cost of special education, teachers and administrators that actually work in classrooms and schools testified otherwise. Minnesota educators feel like they are at the breaking point with Special Education regulations, that the system is becoming more bureaucratic and districts can’t afford the rising costs.
You have until December 24 to submit letters of concern. Talk to your Special Education Director and submit a letter.
We’ll then wait until the Judge makes a determination about the outcome of these proposals. Moving forward with these new rules make little or no sense given that 2007 legislation called for a mediator to meet with special education advocates and representatives of schools to determine which regulations in Minnesota that exceed federal mandates could be rolled back. This Legislative Task Force just recently organized, yet the MDE continues to move forward with new rules that exceed federal regulations even more.
STATE BUDGET A BIT SHORT..... BUT DON’T YET DESPAIR
The November budget forecast showed the revenue collections for the State slowing down and a possible deficit at the end of the biennium (June 30, 2009). Although the trend isn’t good, the amount of the shortfall isn’t that great.
I don’t think you will see the governor proposing any cuts now. His budget adjustments don’t really need to be proposed until the legislative session that begins on February 12. The next revenue forecast will be out at the end of February. Expect the governor to hold off until then to make any recommendations.
Although there will be a lot of ‘gnashing of teeth’ in the legislature, I’m still pretty confident that you will see at least some additional funding for schools for the 2008-09 year.
MASA LEGISLATIVE EFFORT..... PLAN TO PARTICIPATE
The MASA legislative platform will be sent out to you, and to all legislators, right at the end of December. This year we are going to ask MASA members in every area of the state to come into the Capitol 2 times. In this way, we can have MASA members meeting with legislators every tuesday, wednesday and friday throughout the legislative session. We will mail the schedule soon.
Also plan to invite your Senator and Representative (s) in to your schools in January. Show them your best programs, ask them how you can help them and how you can best be in contact with them during the legislative session. Use the January meetings as a time to build relationships. This will help you to be more effective during the legislative session.
SUPERINTENDENTS BECOME ‘LIGHTENING RODS’
We are seeing more and more of our members being beat up on newspaper Blogs and in their communities. If referendums fail or budgets need to be cut, people look for someone to blame and it is often the Superintendent. When referendums pass, people that don’t want to pay more taxes for schools are angry and often engage in really nasty commentaries.
Unfortunately, gone are the days, when Superintendents were automatically held in high esteem in their communities.
Especially troubling are the Blogs. In several that I have seen, it seems as if all civility is left behind and people use demeaning comments freely. It is very hard to counter this type of scurrilous writing.
This was a subject of discussion at the recent meeting of all the state association executives when we had our annual meeting. We are seeing this happening in many states. Several of us are investigating a way to drop in numerous positive messages about superintendents when these critical Blogs spring up. As soon as we have a strategy ready, we will share it with our membership.
MASA ‘PAC’...... IT TAKES ALL OF US!
Part of having political influence is ‘showing up’ and it takes some money for us at MASA to attend the various political caucus fundraisers and an occasional fundraiser for key legislators. This money comes from your donations to the MASA PAC. The PAC is called ‘Management Concerned for Public Education (MCPE) and you will be receiving a request to contribute in early January.
Your help on raising a reasonable amount of money is important to our efforts. You can contribute $100 or $50. If your DIstrict does payroll deductions for your teachers for the NEA PAC, you can use the same process as administrators to contribute to MCPE. A $5 contribution from each pay period would hardly be missed and would help give us the clout we need to make an effective lobbying effort.
THINKING ABOUT A NEW POSITION...... LET ME KNOW
If you are thinking about a possible move, please share your desire with me in confidence. I have regular contact with the search firms and know the inside dynamics in many districts where there are positions open (or opening).
Let me know your geographical limitations, the size of district you are looking for and any other pertinent information. I will do whatever I can in the background to help you find the next position.
