This is a report on the work of the Minnesota Legislature as it pertains to K-12 Education to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) from Charlie Kyte, Ex Director.
The accompanying audio podcast is 6 minutes long.
House Senate Conferees agree on a k-12 Education Bill:
Overnight, the Senate and House conferees agreed on a K-12 Education Bill. They worked within the available money and did not propose a tax increase. This creates a very tight funding situation for schools.
Below is our initial understanding of what is being proposed. Overall spending is $600 in permanent spending and $200 in one-time spending.
Here are the major parts of the Bill:
1). Closes the cap gap (pro-ration) in special education and increases the funding by 4.6% each year.
2) Increases basic, and associated funding formulas by 2% in the first year and 0% in the second year.
3) Phases in All Day K by investing $43 million in the first year. This increases the K formula allowance to .62/ PU.
4) $150 million in one-time money as a general capital outlay amount with discretion to use this for a variety of uses. This amounts to about $150/ PU.
5) Q-Comp is capped, allowing no new districts into the program.
6) $60 million in a range of miscellaneous programs from GT to Nutrition to Statewide Testing.
7) Allowed a number of fund transfers for individual districts
8) Restortation of the former cut backs in ECFE and Headstart
9) Sets up task forces to compare state vs federal rules in Sp Ed and also to revise the School Accountability Report Card.
Analysis:
Overall the Bill does not get enough money to schools and we are afraid that if this is the solution, there will be serious trouible negotiating contracts and we will continue to see staff reductions and increasing class sizes.
On the other hand, within the available money, the allocation of $'s seems pretty wise. At least schools won't need to keep diverting regular funds to cover the pro-rations in Sp Ed. The next steps:
Next steps:
The Senate will need to pass the Bill first and send it to the House. This will probably happen today. If passed by both, it will go to the Governor on Thursday or Friday. There is a likelyhood that the Governor would veto the Bill.
Another scenario is that prior to passage some accomodation would be worked out with the Governors staff to either enhance the funding and/ or insert some of the things the Governor wants to see in this legislation.
Let leaders know your opinion:
We would encourage members to call key persons to let them know your pleasure or displeasure with this proposed Bill. I would recommend contacting the following:
Sen Taryl Clark at [email protected] or 651-296-6455
Rep Mindy Greiling at [email protected] or 651-296-5387
Gov Pawlenty at 651-296-3391
Stay tuned. there is at least one more Act in this play!
Other action today.......the Statewide Health Insurance Bill will be heard on the House floor. It will pass, but it is yet uncertain if any amendments will be approved. We expect a 3-5 hour debate.
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