Education Minnesota calls for important fixes to education bill

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ST. PAUL, Minn. May 23, 2016 – The supplemental budget and policy bill negotiated in secret in the chaotic last days of the session contains both progress on some important education priorities and seriously flawed policies and significant omissions, said Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota. 

"Educators appreciate how the Legislature came together around some important education priorities," Specht said. "Unfortunately, the final product was jammed together without public input, and it shows. This bill needs to be fixed."
 
Early childhood education
The Legislature passed a $25 million appropriation for an early childhood pilot project without the important quality measure of requiring teachers who are licensed, which happens after rigorous, formal training in early childhood development. Research has shown tremendous benefits from high-quality pre-K programs, but little lasting effect from programs lacking rigor and resources.

"You can tell the public wasn't consulted on this one," Specht said of the provision, which requires only that instructors be "knowledgeable" in early childhood education. "No mother would agree there should be a higher licensure standard for the barber who cuts her 4-year-old's hair than for the teacher who develops her brain." 

Standardized testing
The Legislature passed several provisions to make standardized testing more transparent and accountable, including creating a public database of glitches, public local testing calendars and new teams of parents and teachers to advise districts on locally selected assessments.

However, the final bill didn't include even basic restrictions on how education technology companies handle student data. Both the House and Senate had sent bipartisan data privacy bills to the conference committee.The language was mysteriously dropped over the weekend.

"Parents should remember there are few restrictions on technology companies before they tell their children to use an education app, type on a school laptop or strap on a fitness tracker for phy ed class," Specht said. "There's no telling where that data will go and how it will be used."

Recruiting and retaining teachers
The Legislature recognized the growing teacher shortage, the result of too many teachers leaving the profession before retirement and too few young people going to into teaching. Lawmakers appropriated millions of dollars to help, including programs for paraprofessionals to earn teaching licenses, student loan forgiveness, a tax credit for student loan payments and $12.1 million to help hire more support staff, including school counselors. 

"The teacher shortage was years in the making and will take years to fix, but Minnesota took some steps in the right direction," Specht said. "Unfortunately, there were also failures. The Legislature once again failed to pay for its mandate for teacher development and evaluation. It de-funded an online system to streamline paperwork for special education teachers, who are in extremely short supply. And it failed to give due process protections to educators of our youngest students and adult learners."

Bonding for higher education
The Legislature adjourned without passing a bonding bill, which could have paid for millions of dollars in renovations and repairs at colleges within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. 

"When college students walk into a clean, functional space to learn they see Minnesota values them, and wants them to succeed," Specht said. "When those same students walk into a musty building with a leaky roof they learn the state's leaders have other priorities. We can do better than that."

About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.