Receiving the additional Long Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) funding approved this past session requires a comprehensive level of planning. That planning will need to cover facility maintenance, health and safety, and accessibility issues for the district’s buildings and campuses. Districts need to do this planning, at least in rough terms by August 14 with Board approval by Sept. 30 in order to … Read More
Separate ESEA Reauthorizations Passed
For the first time in 8 years, both the U.S. House and Senate passed separate reauthorizations of ESEA in the first two weeks of July. Now the Senate and House versions will go to a conference committee. For all school districts, educators and students, the passage of both bills is a welcome step forward, bringing an overall ESEA reauthorization effort … Read More
Long-Term Facility Maintenance: Fast Footwork Needed Ahead
The new Long-Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) program to close funding disparities between the largest school districts and rural districts was among the major victories this past legislative session. To use this new authority now enacted in law, districts and facilities personnel need to work quickly this summer: The MDE should release soon a template for developing a 10-year facilities maintenance plan. The … Read More
A Few Surprises in Testing Reform in Minnesota
There are always surprises and possible unintended consequences in newly enacted legislation. One example is the noble goal of reducing the amount of testing time by students. While curbing the time students spend on standardized testing is an almost universally supported idea, to achieve this goal the Minnesota Legislature reduced the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) testing budget in half. This … Read More
MDE Releases Look Up Table on Impacts
Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) just released the FY ’16 and ’17 runs and look up table based on the results of the 2015 special session signed education bill. MREA downloaded the report and makes it easily accessible here: View the impact on your school. School districts can see the financial impact the bill has on their respective districts by putting their … Read More
Governor Signs E-12 Bill into Law
The special session of the Minnesota Legislature ended over the weekend and the Governor Dayton has signed all of the special session bills into law. The E-12 bill, now Chapter 3 of the 2015 Special Session (SS HF 1 for those who want to look it up) provides $525 million for E-12 schools over the next two years. View details by issue. Overall the … Read More
AMI Students Win in Special Session
American Indian Students (AMI) were big winners in Minnesota’s 2015 special legislative session E-12 bill, Success for the Future (SftF). All districts, charters, and Bureau of Indian Education schools with over 20 AMI students will receive $20,000 base funding plus $358 per AMI student over 20. The 2014-15 Success for the Future grantees are held harmless at their FY ’15 funding. In all, … Read More
New, Improved E-12 Bill Unveiled
On Friday, a new and improved $525 million E-12 bill emerged for approval during an upcoming special session. This bill includes 2&2 on the formula, more money in existing early learning programs like scholarships and school readiness and a major expansion of American Indian Education funding. Statewide access to an equalized levy for deferred maintenance funding stayed in the final … Read More
Special Session Plans
On Friday, the House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee held a joint hearing to review four bills that are paving the way to a special session. Included in this package of bills is the new and improved E-12 bill that contains $525 million in new spending on a variety of education initiatives over the next two years. The … Read More
Talks Continue: Universal Pre-K Dead
An agreement on the outstanding education issues is elusive after Gov. Mark Dayton and House Speaker Kurt Daudt met four days in a row last week. One thing Gov. Dayton and Speaker Daudt agreed to quickly is that the Special Session would be held in the State Office Building. Several hearing rooms are large enough to hold each body, it is … Read More