Education taking priority at State Legislature

Education issues have moved to the head of the class in the Minnesota Legislature in the past several weeks.
Last week Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, introduced two bills, one that would reduce the number of state-mandated tests for Minnesota students and one that would address teacher shortages in a number of disciplines.
Late Thursday night the House of Representatives approved another bill that Bennett had co-authored, House File 2 that addressed teacher layoffs. And on Friday, Gov. Mark Dayton introduced his own alternative to mandated testing of students in the state.
Thursday night’s vote approved by a 70-63 vote a bill that provides that school districts consider performance, not just seniority, when laying off teachers. The vote was a largely along party lines.
The bill now will now be considered by the state Senate.
“Minnesota students deserve a world-class education and deserve to keep the most effective teachers in the classroom to help put them on the path toward success,” said Bennett after House File 2 was approved.
Minnesota is “fortunate to have many high quality teachers in our schools,” she said. “House File 2 helps school districts retain their most effective teachers in the unfortunate events of teacher layoffs.”
Current teacher tenure law in Minnesota requires school districts to lay off teachers based on seniority only unless the school board and union negotiate their own layoff policies.
Bennett, who is also a former elementary teacher for more than 30 years, also submitted two other education bills last week.
The first bill aims at addressing teacher shortages in some disciplines and subject areas through the creation of a loan forgiveness program. It was co-authored by Rep. Jen Loon, R-Eden Prairie, and Rep. Carolos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul.
The bill would provide loan forgiveness to teachers who teach in areas identified as “teacher shortage areas” which are determined on an annual basis by the commissioner of education.
Bennett said special education is one of those areas where both Metro and Greater Minnesota schools struggle to find qualified applicants to fill positions. Math, science and English as a Second Language are other areas where some districts cannot find qualified applicants, she said.
Under the proposed legislation teachers in one of the listed areas could receive loan forgives every year for up to five years, Bennett said.
Triton School Superintendent Brett Joyce said the idea of loan forgiveness is an idea he could support.
“I support the bill helping address teacher shortages by loan repayment incentives,” he said. “This is a great idea to help get good candidates in math and science teaching positions.”
A second bill reducing the number of state-mandated tests, is also likely to be looked on favorably by school officials.
Bennett said she had introduced the bill to cut the number of mandated tests to “reduce the testing burden on schools, teachers and students.”
The bill would keep state standards testing in reading and math for grades three through eight and high school. It would restore state standards testing for writing in high school and maintain the high school science exam.
It would eliminate career and college readiness testing for grades eight and 10 and diagnostic testing for certain students in grade 10 and also requiring the ACT test for graduation.
Bennett was especially critical of adding the ACT test as a graduation requirement. This is the first year the test will be a required for graduation and since it is now a requirement the state will be paying for 11th and 12th graders to take the test. In the past the ACT, along with the SAT, have generally been taken as a requirement by college admissions departments.
Among her criticisms of the requirement is that the administration of the test is costly, it is creating space problems for many districts and it is given during the school day and it is not aligned with state standards. She also said the timed nature of the test makes it hard for many special education students to pass the exam.
School officials throughout the state have often been critical of the number of state mandated tests.
“There is no research evidence that all of the money the state has spent on testing has improved education and learning for students,” Joyce said. “I support a move to roll-back some of the high-stakes testing students have to do.”
Bennett said she expected the bill to have broad support and said that even the governor has questioned the amount of testing.
Last week Dayton also weighed in on mandated testing, proposing to eliminate seven of 21 state or federally mandated tests.