The House passed its omnibus education bill on Saturday after heavy criticism about it falling short of what is needed for education in Minnesota. The Senate omnibus education budget bill (SF 811) is expected to be heard – and passed in some form – on the floor on Wednesday. The Senate bill includes a variety of provisions to support education. View … Read More
House Education Bill Passes 69-61
The House convened in session on Saturday to take up its omnibus education bill, HF 844. After several hours of debate, legislators added two substantive amendments and passed the bill 69-61. View what’s in the bill and how it compares to the Senate bill. Teacher Licensure Rep. Dean Urdahl (GOP-Grove City) was successful in getting more flexibility around passage of MTLE exams with … Read More
Success for SPED Program in Final Hours
Well into the late hours of Thursday evening, the Senate Finance Committee reviewed the omnibus E-12 budget bill (SF 811) and a handful of amendments offered to shuffle funds within the bill. Legislators added one amendment to slightly reduce the new long-term maintenance levy program to add $1 million each year to Head Start funding. The new long-term maintenance levy program … Read More
Understanding Brain Development & Early Learning
Research on early brain development is exponentially expanding with striking implications for early learning. To help rural educators be at the cutting edge of early learning in their community, Drs. Kathleen Thomas and Michele Mazzocco will give you a look inside the brain and the development of reasoning at MREA’s 2015 Annual Conference. The conference on“Great Beginnings: When Learning Starts Early, Inspires and Applies” will … Read More
E-12 Plans Advance In House, Senate
The House and Senate Education finance committees last week unveiled their omnibus bills and passed them out of their respective committees. Each bill has a few more stops before full debate in front of the House and Senate and then onto conference committee. MREA created a side-by-side comparison of the funding and policy issues currently being debated at the Capitol related … Read More
MREA Calls for Fall Conference Proposals
MREA is now accepting presentation proposals for its 2015 Annual Conference, Great Beginnings: When Learning Starts Early, Inspires, Applies. The conference will be held Sunday-Tuesday, November 15-17, at Cragun’s Resort near Brainerd. The deadline to submit a proposal is 5 pm Wednesday, June 3. Learn more about submitting a proposal. Share Effective Practices The 2015 MREA Annual Conference is a chance to share an effective practice … Read More
US Senate Committee Approves ESEA Rewrite
“In a calculated and largely fireworks-free markup of a bipartisan Elementary and Secondary Education Act rewrite, members of the U.S. Senate education committee approved the ESEA Rewrite 22-0 Thursday amid much back-slapping and promises to continue working across the aisle.” (Education Week, Politics K-12, April 16, 2015) Noelle Ellerson of NREAC and AASA began her summary this way: The bill numbered … Read More
New Limits Set on Referendum and Special Elections
A bill passed that would force districts to hold all spending referendums on Election Day. HF922, sponsored by Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa), would specifically target the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the only date a local unit of government could hold certain types of special elections or referendum elections that ask voters for spending increases. School districts … Read More
E-12 Funding Bills To Emerge
Just as children are anxious the night before Christmas, so too are education lobbyists who have waited until this point of session to see what House and Senate education leaders have in store for education funding specifics this year. We know the various spending levels: the House is a $157 million and the Senate is now at $361 million. But … Read More
School Districts Share Impact of 1&1 Funding
Responding to an MREA survey, 124 school superintendents across Greater Minnesota reported the impact of the proposed 1&1 funding for education would mean larger class sizes, fewer electives and hundreds of pink slips. The report results reveal rural Minnesota can expect 160 teachers and 80 support staff to be laid off or not replaced and a total of $17.4 million in … Read More