Senate Counsel, Research
and Fiscal Analysis
Minnesota Senate Bldg.
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St. Paul, MN 55155
(651) 296-4791
Alexis C. Stangl
Director
   Senate   
State of Minnesota
 
 
 
 
 
S.F. No. 718 - Omnibus E-12 Education Bill (Second Engrossment)
 
Author: Senator Carla J. Nelson
 
Prepared By: Senate Counsel, Research and Fiscal Analysis (651/296-4791)
 
Date: March 31, 2017



 

Article 1. General Education

Sections 1 and 2.  E-learning days. Provides that a school board may optionally develop a plan for providing online instruction in cases of inclement weather and include up to five days of such instruction in its annual calendar. Requires the school board to consult with the teachers in the development of the plan. Provides certain requirements for annual and daily notice and student access to teachers during these days.

Sections 3 and 4.  Exclusions. Connects the statute on parent authorization for a child to self-carry an inhaler with the statute for the assessment that the child can safely use and possess the medication.

Section 5. Textbook. Modifies the definition of textbook to include an online book with an annual subscription cost for the purposes of nonpublic pupil aids.

Section 6. Software or other educational technology. Modifies the definition of software or other educational technology to include course registration fees for online advanced placement courses for the purposes of nonpublic pupil aids.

Sections 7 and 8. Contracts.  Provides that a district contract with a food service management company may be renewed after its initial two year term for up to four years.

Section 9. Energy use reduction and reporting for public schools. Requires a public school to enter and maintain monthly utility consumption data into the Minnesota B3 benchmarking program for all buildings under its custodial control.

Section 10.  Definitions.  Maintains students awaiting foster care placement as eligible for transportation funding after the federal definition of homeless student removed students awaiting foster care placement.

Section 11. Program requirements. Clarifies the program requirements for voluntary prekindergarten programs.

Section 12. Average daily membership. Makes conforming change to the calculation of average daily membership related to the “e-learning days” authorization.

Section 13. Basic revenue. Increases the formula allowance to $6,158 for fiscal year 2018 and $6,249 for fiscal year 2019 and later.

Section 14. Compensatory education revenue. Modifies the calculation of general education compensatory revenue to include the amounts of the compensatory pilot grants for FY 2017. Strikes other obsolete language.

Section 15. Referendum revenue. Authorizes a district to send the required referendum notice by any class of mail.

Section 16. Payments to school nonoperating funds. Changes the current aid payment schedule for debt service aids to school districts from 12 monthly installments to six equal installments from July to December.

Section 17. Nevis school district; levy adjustment. Authorizes the Nevis school district to spread a referendum levy adjustment over three years beginning with taxes payable in 2018.

Section 18. Direction to the commissioner; transportation report. Directs the commissioner of education to prepare a report for the legislature relating to pupil transportation costs. Requires certain content elements in the report.

Section 19. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 20. Repealer. Repeals an outdated definition of “American Indian child.”

Article 2.  Education Excellence

Section 1. Required academic standards. Corrects the reference to physical education standards to be adopted by the Department from National Association of Sport and Physical Education to Society of Health and Physical Educators. Allows the new assessments to be available for school districts in the same year the new standards are implemented.

Section 2. Rulemaking. Deletes obsolete language.

Section 3. State bilingual and multilingual seals. Allows students in nonpublic high schools to be eligible for bilingual and multilingual seals.

Section 4. Reading proficiently no later than the end of grade 3.

Subdivision 1. Literacy goal. Clarifies that students receiving literacy interventions and in approved alternative delivery program are included in the state’s literacy goal of having all students reading at or above grade level by the end of grade 3.

Subd. 1a. Definitions. Defines the following terms for the purposes of this section “core reading instruction,” “diagnostic,” “evidence-based,” “fidelity,” “multisensory instruction,” “multi-tiered system of supports,” “progress monitoring,” “screening,” “supplemental and intensive instruction,” and “systematic and explicit instruction.”

Subd. 2. Identification; report. Clarifies that districts must report on efforts to identify students likely to have dyslexia. Provides for a multi-tiered system of supports for students identified as needing reading interventions.

Subd. 2a. Parent notification and involvement. Prohibits a district from using this section to deny a student’s right to a special education evaluation.

Subd. 3. Intervention.  Provides examples of a multi-tiered system of supports for reading interventions.  Allows a student, other than a student with an individualized education program, unable to demonstrate grade-level proficiency on the third grade Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) in reading, to receive a personal learning plan.  The plan is required to address knowledge gaps and skill deficiencies through various strategies and may include grade retention, if necessary. Requires the intervention to continue after third grade until the student is reading at grade level.

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective for fiscal year 2018 and later.

Section 5. Dyslexia Specialist. Directs to Commissioner to employ a dyslexia specialist.  Requires the specialist to work to increase professional awareness and instructional competencies to meet the needs of students with dyslexia.

Section 6. Planning for students’ successful transition to postsecondary education and employment; personal learning plans.  (a) Requires the personal learning plans of students in grade 9 to inform the student’s parents of the student’s achievement levels score on the high school MCAs.

(f) Requires students who do not meet or exceed Minnesota academic standards, as measured by the high school MCAs, to be informed that admission to public school is free and available to any resident under 21.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2017.

Section 7. Raised Academic Achievement; Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs. Allows the Commissioner to award AP/IB grants to school districts that plan to increase AP/IB science, technology, engineering, and math offerings to low-income and other disadvantaged students.

Section 8. Statewide testing. Limits the ACT or SAT reimbursement to 11th or 12th grade students eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch.

Section 9. Statewide and local assessments; results. Removes the requirement for off-grade testing in grade 3 through 8 reading and math MCAs.

Section 10. Rollout sites; report. Directs the Commissioner to select up to six school districts or charter schools to rollout the disaggregated data reporting. Directs the Commissioner to consult stakeholders to develop recommendations for best practices for disaggregated data.  Directs the Commissioner to consult the stakeholders on how to measure and report on a student’s background as an immigrant or a refugee. Requires the Commissioner to report to the legislature.

Section 11. Student performance data.  Clarifies that data on race and ethnicity is governed by section 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (a), clause (2).

Section 12. State growth target; other state measures. Directs the Commissioner to report additional student categories as “other” for each race and ethnicity, the Karen community, seven of the most populous Asian and Pacific Islander groups, three of the most populous Native groups, seven of the most populous Hispanic/Latino groups, and five of the most populous Black and African Heritage groups. Requires graduation rates to be disaggregated by the same student categories.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for the 2018-2019 school year and later for the rollout sites.  Makes the section effective for the 2019-2020 school year and later for all other schools.

Section 13. Alternative teacher professional pay system. Amends the alternative teacher professional pay system to allow for the following: 1) hiring bonuses or other added compensation to provide students with equitable access to teachers who have demonstrated skills for being highly effective at closing achievement gaps; work in a high-need position; or are hired to work in hard-to-staff schools; 2) incentives for teachers to obtain credits required for teaching concurrent enrollment or college in the schools courses; or 3) funding a grow your own new teacher initiative.

Section 14. Basic alternative teacher compensation aid. Makes technical changes to the subdivision to create a paragraph (c) from the existing language.

Section 15. Alternative teacher compensation revenue for St. Croix River Education District. Allows the St. Croix River Education District to be eligible for alternative teacher compensation revenue.

Section 16. Positive behavioral interventions and supports.  Defines “positive behavioral interventions and supports or PBIS.”

Section 17. Teacher mentoring, induction, and retention programs. Amends the teacher mentorship grant program to require the programs to support the teacher evaluation and peer review process.  Allows the use of various funds to pay a stipend to a mentor.

Section 18. Definitions. Defines “concurrent enrollment.”

Sections 19 and 20. Authorization; notification.  Separates the current provisions on post-secondary enrollment options (PSEO) for 11th and 12th graders and concurrent enrollment for ninth and tenth graders.

Section 21. Courses according to agreements. Encourages schools, school districts and postsecondary institutions to develop and offer an “introduction to teaching” or “introduction to education” concurrent enrollment courses.  Requires an institution that receives a grant to annually report on student participation rates to the Commissioner.

Section 22.  Financial arrangements.  Increases the amount of time from 30 to 45 days for the Department to calculate PSEO payments after receiving enrollment information.

Section 23. Eligible pupils.  Allows for fiscal year 2017 and 2018 only, an English learner with an interrupted formal education that was in an early middle college program during the previous school year, to participate in the graduation incentives program and in concurrent enrollment courses.

Section 24. Approved Recovery Program Funding. Adds approved unreimbursed pupil transportation costs to the uses of the recovery program grant.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately.

Section 25. Literacy incentive aid. Caps literacy incentive aid at the fiscal year 2017 amount of $45,972,000.

Section 26. Innovation Zones.

Subdivision 1. Establishment; requirements for participation; innovation zone plans. (a) Establishes the innovation zone program to improve student and school outcomes consistent with The World’s Best Workforce requirements.  

(b) Allows one or more school districts or charter schools to form an innovation zone partnership.  Nonschool partners may participate, too.  The school's instructional staff must be involved in the development of the plan. 

(c) Requires innovation zone partners to research and implement innovation education programs and models.  Examples of innovation zone research includes, but is not limited to: 

  1. personalized learning;

  2. new approaches to evaluation and assessment;

  3. the use of competency outcomes;

  4. multidisciplinary, real-world, inquiry-based, student-directed models designed to make learning more engaging and relevant;

  5. models of instruction designed to close the achievement gap;

  6. new partnerships between secondary schools and postsecondary institutions, employers or career training institutions;

  7. new methods of collaborative leadership;

  8. new ways to enhance parental and community involvement in learning;

  9. new models of professional development for educators; or

  10. new models in other areas. 

(d) Requires the innovation zone plan to describe: 

  1. how the plan will improve student and school outcomes;

  2. the role of each partner;

  3. the research methodology used for each proposed action in the plan;

  4. the exemptions from state statute and rules that the partnership will use;

  5. a timeline for implementing the plan; and

  6. how results of the plan will be disseminated. 

(e) Requires the approval of the initial partners and the Commissioner of Education to extend membership to other partners.  

(f) Allows a school district or charter school participating in a partnership to continue to receive all revenue and maintain its taxation authority in the same manner as before the partnership existed.  The partnership participants remain organized and governed by their respective boards with general powers under chapter 123B or 124E and remain subject to their employment agreements.  

Subd. 2. Exemptions from laws and rules.  Allows an innovation zone partner to be exempt from the following education laws and rules specifically identified in their plan: 

  1. any law or rule a district-created, site-governed school is exempt from;

  2. any statute or rule the commissioner has granted exemption from to another district or school;

  3. student attendance reporting requiring more than one count each day;

  4. high school curricular or graduation requirements that may be met through the adult learning programs;

  5. individual course requirements for Algebra II for a student enrolled in a course in applied mathematics, science, technology, engineering, math or other learning experiences;

  6. online learning program approval if the district or school offers a course or program online combined with direct access to a teacher for a portion of that course or program;

  7. certain restrictions on extended time revenue;

  8. calendar and credit restrictions if the student meets the competencies required for graduation described in the plan and the student completes either a career certification or one or more years of postsecondary education; and

  9. any required hours of instructions in any class or subject areas for a student who is meeting all competencies consistent with the graduation standards described in the plan. 

Subd. 3. Planning and implementation grants. (a)  Allows a partnership to submit an application for approval of the plan, a planning grant, or an implementation grant. 

(b) Allows a partnership to submit its plan to the commissioner at any time.  Requires the commissioner to approve or reject the plan after reviewing the recommendation of the Innovation Zone Advisory Panel. 

(c) Requires a planning grant application to include: 

  1. the name of each member of the partnership;

  2. the hypotheses or practices the innovation zone will implement based upon the research and methodology design cited in the plan;

  3. how teachers and other educational staff from the affected schools sites will be included in the planning and implementation process;

  4. a proposed timeline of activities to develop an implementation plan; and

  5. the planning process budget. 

(d) Requires implementation grant applications to be submitted by April 1.  Requires the commissioner to approve or reject applications by May 1.  Allows grants to be awarded for up to four years and they may be renewed.  A partnership may apply for an implementation grant without having first applied for a planning grant. 

Subd. 4. Innovation Zone Advisory Panel. (a) Requires the commissioner to establish and convene a 14-member Innovation Zone Advisory Panel. 

(b) Requires the panel to be composed of one member appointed by each of the following organizations:  Education Minnesota, Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals, Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association, Minnesota Association of School Administrators, Minnesota School Boards Association, Minnesota Association of Charter Schools, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota, and the Office of Higher Education.  Requires the commissioner to appoint six members, three with expertise in innovation and three with expertise in evaluation and research. 

(c) States the duties of the panel as:

  1. reviewing all innovation zone plans submitted for approval; and

  2. recommending planning and implementation grant amounts for each qualifying applicant. 

Subd. 5. Commissioner approval. Allows the commissioner to approve plans and award implementation and planning grants to qualifying applicants.  Requires the commissioner to consider geographical distribution in awarding grants.  Requires the commissioner to alert an innovation zone partnership that fails to implement its plan as described in the application and provide them with an opportunity to remediate.  If the implementation continues to fail, the commissioner must suspend or terminate the innovation zone plan. 

Subd. 6. Project evaluation, dissemination, and report to legislature.  Requires each partnership to submit project data to the commissioner.  Requires the commissioner, once every two years, to analyze each innovation zone’s progress in realizing the objectives of the partnership’s plan.  Requires the commissioner to summarize and categorize innovation zone plans and submit a report to the legislature.  

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately. 

Section 27.  Certain, federal, state, and local requirements.  Includes the requirement for compliance with the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act in the list of requirements for charter schools.

Section 28.  Role, responsibilities, and requirements of authorizers. (a) States the role of authorizers is to ensure their schools fulfill the purpose for chartered public schools and the agreed upon charter contracts in order to provide quality educational opportunities and maintain public trust and confidence.

(b) Lists the following as the responsibilities of authorizers:

  1. review applications for new schools and grade and site expansions of current schools;
  2. negotiate and execute performance contracts with its schools;
  3. conduct ongoing monitoring and oversight of the school’s academic, operational and financial performance; and
  4. evaluate the academic, operational, and financial performance of the school.

(c) Prohibits the Commissioner from requiring an authorizer to undertake a role or responsibility beyond what’s in statute or the charter contract.

(d) Requires the authorizer to document the training its staff and consultants participated in during the previous school year related to chartering and authorizer role and responsibilities.

(e) Requires an authorizer to participate in annual department approved training.

Section 29. Application content. Strikes a requirement that the authorizer’s application to the Commissioner to become an authorizer include an assurance that the organization is committed to serving as an authorizer for the full five-year term.

Section 30. Withdrawal. Requires an authorizer to provide a letter to the school for distribution to families that explains the decision to withdraw as an authorizer, and outlines the process the authorizer will take to assist the school’s transfer to another authorizer.

Section 31. Merger. Allows a charter school that’s been notified that it’s contract is not being renewed or terminated to merge with another school under these circumstances: the school proposing to take over the school has a compatible academic or learning program; had a net positive unreserved general fund balance for at least three fiscal years; and submits a plan for assimilation of the schools into a merged school that’s approved by the authorizers. 

Section 32. Membership criteria. Strikes a reference to the chief financial officer as a nonvoting board member.

Section 33. Board structure. Makes technical changes to the subdivision.

Section 34. Training. Includes voting and nonvoting ex-officio board members in the required annual training. Requires new board members to begin initial training within three months of being seated and complete the training within nine months.

Section 35School Transfer of authorizers. (a) Requires a joint letter to the Commissioner of the intent to mutually not renew a charter contract.  A proposed authorizer must be informed by the existing authorizer of the school’s fiscal, operational, and student performance status.  If the Commissioner does not approve the transfer, and the school and the authorizer enter into a new contract without withdrawing the letter of nonrenewal, the school must be dissolved.

(b) Requires a charter school board that votes to not renew its contract with the authorizer to notify the Commissioner and the authorizer that it doesn’t plan to renew the contract. A proposed authorizer must be informed by the existing authorizer of the school’s fiscal, operational, and student performance status.  If the Commissioner does not approve the transfer, and the school and the authorizer do not enter into a new contract, the school must be dissolved.

(c) Allows the Commissioner 20 business days to review a transfer of authorizer request and notify the proposed authorizer and school of the decision.  Allows the proposed authorizer and school to address issues identified in the Commissioner’s review.

(d) Requires the Commissioner to develop a transfer of authorizer plan when the Commissioner withdraws the authority of the authorizer.

(e) Requires transfer of authorizer requests under paragraphs (a) and (b) to be submitted to the Commissioner 105 business days before the end of the existing contract. Allows the Commissioner 30 days to review the transfer request and notify the proposed authorizer and the school of the Commissioner’s decision. Allows the proposed authorizer and the school 15 days to address issued identified by the Commissioner.

Section 36. Admission Requirements and Enrollment. Adds a charter school’s free preschool or prekindergarten program to the admission requirements and enrollment provisions.  Clarifies that a student is considered enrolled in a school until the school receives a request for transfer of educational records from another school, or a written election of withdrawal from the school, or the student is expelled.  Strikes the reference to compliance with the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act.  The reference was moved to Minnesota Statutes, section 124E.03, subdivision 2.

Section 37. Charter school information. Requires a charter school to document their efforts to disseminate information under this subdivision in their annual report.

Section 38. Building Lease Aid. Allows a charter school to include students participating in PSEO in their pupil count for generating lease aid.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective for fiscal year 2018 and later.

Section 39. Requirement. Requires the alternate instruction, for a student identified as being unable to read at grade level, to be multisensory, systemic, sequential, cumulative, and explicit.

Section 40. Education Innovation Partners Cooperative Center. Extends the appropriation to June 30, 2019.

Section 41. Agricultural Educator Grants. Establishes a grant program to pay agricultural education teachers for work over the summer with high school students in extended programs.

Section 42. Commissioner of Education Must Submit ESSA Plan to Legislature. Requires the Commissioner to submit the state Every Student Succeeds Act plan to the legislature before submitting the plan to the United States Department of Education.

Section 43. Educational Stability for Students in Foster Care.

Subdivision 1. Establishment. Establishes the pilot project to provide incentives to school districts and county governments to form partnerships that help to keep foster care students enrolled in their school of origin.

Subd. 2. Qualifying plans. Requires a school district to apply to participate in the pilot project.  To participate in the project, a school district and the local child welfare agency must have a written interagency agreement describing the plan for ensuring educational stability for foster care students.

Subd. 3. Pilot project; funding. Directs the Commissioner to reimburse partnerships with a qualifying plan at the end of the school year and to prorate the funds if the appropriation is insufficient to fully fund all qualifying funds.

Subd. 4. Report. Directs the Commissioner to report to the legislature on the number of local agreements interesting into for this project, the number of school districts and counties participating in the agreements, baseline data showing the number of foster care students who were able to remain in their school of origin, data on expenditures for school stability transportation and federal reimbursements received for the pilot project, and projected costs for statewide implementation of the program.

Section 44. Federal Every Student Succeeds Act Funding for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities. Encourages school districts to use certain federal funding for:

  1. mentor-led, hands-on STEM education and engagements;
  2. student participation in STEM competitions; and
  3. mentor-led, classroom-based, after-school activities with informal STEM instruction and education.

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2017.

Section 45. Rural Career and Technical Education Consortium Grants.

Subdivision 1. Definition. Defines “rural career and technical education (CTE) consortium” as a voluntary collaboration of a service cooperative and other regional public and private partners that work together to provide career and technical education opportunities within the service cooperative’s multicounty service area.

Subd. 2. Establishment. (a) Requires a rural CTE consortium to:

  1. focus on development of courses and programs that encourage collaboration;
  2. develop new CTE programs that focus on the industry sectors that fuel the regional economy;
  3. facilitate the development of highly trained and knowledgeable students equipped with technical and workplace skills;
  4. improve access to CTE programs for students who attend sparsely populated rural school districts;
  5. increase family and student awareness of the availability and benefit of CTE courses; and
  6. provide capital start-up costs.

(b) A rural CTE consortium may address the teacher shortage through incentive funding and training programs; and transportation reimbursement grants.

Subd. 3. Rural career and technical education advisory committee. Requires a service cooperative to establish a rural career and technical education advisory committee to advise the cooperative on the administration of the rural CTE consortium.

Subd. 4. Private funding. Allows a rural CTE consortium to receive other sources of funds to supplement state funding.

Subd. 5. Reporting requirements. Requires a rural CTE consortium to submit an annual report on the progress of its activities to the Commissioner and the legislature.

Section 46. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 47.  Repealer.  Repeals section 124E.10, subdivision 5 (charter school mutual nonrenewal).

Article 3.  Teachers

Section 1. Endorsement; dual enrollment instruction. Directs the Board of Teaching to issue an endorsement for dual enrollment instruction to a high school teacher who complete the requirements for providing dual enrollment instruction in the teacher’s licensure field.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately.

Section 2.  Validity of Certificates or Licenses.  Allows all teacher licenses in effect on January 1, 2018 to remain valid for an additional year after the scheduled expiration date. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018.

Section 3.  Authority to license.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Strikes language authorizing the Commissioner of Education to issue licenses under the jurisdiction of the Board of Teaching and the Board of School Administrators. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 4.  Support personnel qualifications.  (a) Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

(b) Directs the board to adopt rules to establish a passing score on a board-adopted skills examination for a tier 2, 3, or 4 teaching license. 

(c) Strikes reference to the board granting professional five-year licenses. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 5.  Reading specialist.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 6.  Supervisory and coach qualifications; code of ethics.  Substitutes the PELSB for the commissioner of education. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 7.  Technology Strategies. Strikes a reference to the Board of Teaching to be the board. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 8.  Permission to substitute teach.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Allows a retired teacher who held a Tier 3 or 4 teaching license to receive a lifetime qualified short-call or long-call substitute teaching license.  Allows a person holding this lifetime license to reapply to the board for a Tier 1, Tier 3 or Tier 4 license. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 9.  Temporary military license.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Directs the board to provide candidates with information about the tiered licensure system. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 10.  Background checks.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Substitutes the Board of School Administrators for the Commissioner of Education.  Requires a candidate that has their license revoked due to the background check results to notify their employing school district or charter school that their license has been revoked. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 11.  Tiered Licensure System.

Subdivision 1.  Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board to issue licenses.  (a) Directs the PELSB to license teachers.  Declares that the tiered licensure system supersedes the current teacher licensure system. 

(b) Requires the board to issue licenses to qualified candidates. 

Subd. 2.  Licensure tiers.  Establishes a table tor the tiered licensure system.  Provides for four tiers and their respective qualifications, durations and renewal limits. 

Subd. 3.  Assessment Alternatives.  Allows a Tier 3 or Tier 4 licensure candidate who, after two attempts, has not passed the skill examination to demonstrate that they have the required skills by either completing a portfolio or teaching for three years in a Minnesota school and having received a summative evaluation and showing satisfactory evidence of successful teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 12.  Expiration and Renewal.

Subdivision 1.  License form requirements.  Requires each license to have the date of issue and the name of the teacher preparation provider on it. Establishes renewal requirements for Tier 3 or Tier 4 licensees to show satisfactory evidence of successful teaching or administrative experience for at least one school year in the grades or subjects for which the license is valid or completing additional preparation.  

Subd. 2.  Professional Growth.  (a) Requires Tier 3 or Tier 4 license holders, as a condition of renewal, to demonstrate to the PELSB evidence of professional reflection and growth in best teaching practices, including practices in meeting the needs of English learners. 

(b) Requires the PELSB requirements for license renewal to include the items in paragraph (a). 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 13.  Licensure Denial; Appeal.

Subdivision 1.  Denial letter. (a) Requires the PELSB to inform licensure candidates within 30 days on whether their initial application or renewal of a teaching license has been approved or denied.  A denial letter must inform the candidate of the process for seeking review of the denial and of the appeals process.  

(b) Defines “denial” as denial of an initial license or a denial of a renewal license. 

Subd. 2.  Review of denial.  Establishes a process for the PELSB to review a candidate’s application.  Allows the board 60 days from the date the request for review is received to review the denial.  

Subd. 3.  Appeal.  Allows a candidate whose application for license or license renewal has been denied to appeal the decision by filing a written request with the PELSB.  

Section 14.  Bilingual and English as a second language licenses. Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Provides a reference to the tiered licensure section. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Sections 15 and 16.  Suspension or revocation of licenses; mandatory reporting.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 17.  Licensure via portfolio.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Requires a candidate to submit one portfolio demonstrating pedagogical competence and one portfolio demonstrating content competence. If the candidate is adding a licensure field, they are required to submit one portfolio for each field they seek to add. 

Section 18.  Teacher licensure agreements with adjoining states. Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 19Alternative teacher preparation providers and programs.

Subdivision 1.  Definitions.  Defines “provider” or “unit” and “program”. 

Subd. 2.  Purpose.  State the purpose of the alternative teacher preparation program as a means to provide pathways to teacher licensure outside the traditional methods, improve ethnical and cultural diversity in the classroom, and to close the achievement gap.  

Subd. 3.  Eligibility.  Allows a school district, charter school, or certain nonprofit corporations to be eligible to participate as a provider under this section. 

Subd. 4.  Provider approval.   Requires approval of a provider before they can operate an approved program.  In order to be approved by the PELSB, the provider must meet the following requirements:

  1. have evidence and history of fiscal solvency, capacity, and operation;
  2. have evidence of necessary infrastructure to provide accurate, timely, and secure data for the purposes of admission, candidate monitoring, testing, background checks, and license recommendations;
  3. have policies and procedures in place ensuring the security of candidate records;
  4. have instructional capacity of provide an  adequate instructional phase; and
  5. meets other board-adopted rules for teacher preparation providers. 

Subd. 5.  Program approval.  Requires approved programs to have the following characteristics:

  1. an instructional phase that provides intensive preparation and observed classroom experience before the teacher candidate assumes classroom responsibilities;
  2. a research-based and results-oriented approach;
  3. a strategy to combine pedagogy and best teaching practices;
  4. provide assessment, supervision, and evaluation of teacher candidates;
  5. provide intensive and ongoing professional learning opportunities; and
  6. a process to review a candidate’s final proficiency of required licensure content standards that leads to recommendation for a Tier 3 teaching license.

Subd. 6.  Nontraditional means; program instructors.  Requires the board to allow alternative teacher preparation program providers and teacher candidates to demonstrate pedagogy and content standard proficiency in school-based programs and through other nontraditional means. Allows the board to permit instructors to hold a baccalaureate degree only. 

Subd. 7.  Program disapproval, suspension.  Allows the board to suspend or revoke approval of a program that fails to meet or is deficient in any of the program requirements.  

Subd. 8.  Candidate program completion; teacher licensure.  (a) Requires the board to issue a Tier 3 license to a candidate that has successfully completed a licensure program with a recommendation from the provider. 

(b) Requires the board to issue a Tier 4 license to a candidate that has successfully completed a licensure program, obtains a qualifying score on board-adopted licensure exams or demonstrate qualifications to the board their qualifications for licensure. 

(c) Allows a person who has successfully completed an out-of-state alternative teacher preparation program to apply to the board for a Tier 3 license. 

Subd. 9.  Reports.  Requires an approved provider to report to the PELSB on program candidates, completions rates, and effectiveness.  Requires the PELSB to report to the legislature on the program and providers. 

Section 20.  Exceptions.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 21.  Teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing students; licensure requirements. Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 22Teachers of blind and visually impaired students; licensure requirements.

Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 23Exemption for career and technical education instructors. Allows someone teaching under the exception to apply for a teaching license once the section expires in June 30, 2020. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 24Teachers. Strikes language related to variances for teacher in early childhood family education programs. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 25Compliance with rules. Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching and the Commissioner for career and technical education programs for children with a disability. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 26.  American Indian language and culture education licenses.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 27.  Persons eligible for employment; exemptions.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching and the Commissioner for American Indian language and culture education licenses. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 28Teacher standards.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching to teachers at the state academies.  Requires an administrator at the state academies to be subject to the licensure standards of the Board of School Administrators. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 29.  Definitions.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 30.  Licenses under jurisdiction of the Board of Teaching.

Subdivision 1. One-year license. Requires a one-year license to be treated as a Tier 1 license. 

Subd. 2. Two-year license. Requires a two-year license to be treated as a Tier 2 license. 

Subd. 3. Three-year license. Requires a three-year license to be treated as a Tier 3 license. 

Subd. 4. Five-year license. Requires a five-year license to be treated as a Tier 4 license. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 31. Rule Change; Academic and Behavioral Strategist Licensure.  Directs the Board of Teaching to amend Minnesota Rules, part 8710.5050, subpart 4, so that academic and behavioral strategist continuing licenses may be issued and renewed without the requirement for the candidate to hold a license in any other licensure field.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately.

Section 32. Teacher of Special Education License Review.  Directs the PELSB to conduct a review of all the available teacher of special education licenses and determine the options for cross-categorical licenses for teachers of special education.

Section 33Repealer. Repeals 122A.162 (Licensure Rules); 122A.163 (Teacher Rule Variances; Commissioner); 122A.18, subdivisions 4, 4a, and 7 (Expiration and renewal and Limited provisional licenses); 122A.23, subdivisions 1 and 2 (Preparation equivalency and Applicants licensed in other states); 122A.245 (Alternative teacher preparation program and preliminary teacher license) and 122A.25 (Nonlicensed community experts; variance).

Article 4. Special Education

Section 1. Definitions. Provides a cross reference to the definition of "Positive behavioral interventions and supports" or "PBIS.”

Section 2. Nonresident tuition rate; other costs. Provides that a site in the St. Francis school district for court-placed adolescents is eligible to apply to the commissioner for the authority to recover additional unreimbursed special education costs from resident districts.

Section 3. Third-party reimbursement.  Clarifies that the district must give parents notice of the district’s intent to seek reimbursement from medical assistance or MinnesotaCare for special education evaluations required as a part of the individualized education program process or individualized family service plan process.

Section 4. Placement of students; approval of education program. Clarifies that the department is only authorized to approve onsite education programs. Removes “approved” to clarify that the Departments of Corrections or Human Services licenses children’s residential facilities, not MDE.  Replaces the term “care and treatment facility” with “children’s residential facility” to also clarify that under this statute facilities are licensed by DOC and DHS.

Section 5. Eligibility. Clarifies that a district may enroll as a provider in the medical assistance program and receive medical assistance payments for covered evaluations and special education services provided to persons eligible for medical assistance.

Section 6. Special education aid. Directs the department of education to establish procedures to adjust the prior year data and fiscal year 2016 old formula aid used in calculating special education aid to exclude costs that have been eliminated for districts where programs have closed or where a substantial portion of the program has been transferred to a cooperative unit.

Section 7. Special education services. Provides that medical assistance covers evaluations necessary in making a determination for eligibility for individualized education program (IEP) and individualized family service plan (IFSP) services and for medical services identified in a recipient's IEP and IFSP and covered under the medical assistance state plan.

Section 8. Southwest Minnesota State University special education teacher education program. Clarifies the purpose and eligibility of the program and cancels and reappropriates a portion of the money appropriated in Laws 2016.

Section 9. Special education assistive technology study. Requires the commissioner to examine the use of assistive technology in Minnesota schools and make a report and recommendations to the legislature by February 2018.

Section 10. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 11. Repealer. Repeals obsolete special education aid formulas.

Article 5. Facilities and Technology

Section 1. Dissolution; referendum revenue. Provides that the treatment of referendum revenue of attaching districts is the same for voluntary or involuntary dissolutions.

Section 2.  Review of proposals.  Directe the commissioner to include comments from citizens in the school district about a proposed project.

Section 3.  Publication.  Requires a school board to hold a public meeting to review the commissioner's review and comment on a proposal before the bond election.

Section 4 and 5.  Definitions.  Requires state payments for debt obligation to be spent on purposes consistent with proposal submitted to the commissioner for review and comments.  

Section 6. Early repayment aid incentive. Amends Laws 2016 to appropriate money for an early repayment aid incentive for the Kelliher school district.

Section 7. Disposition of Crosswinds School; proceeds of sale. Directs the commissioner of administration to offer the Crosswinds school for sale, consistent with existing law on the commissioner’s authority to manage surplus state property. Provides that the net sale proceeds be credited to the general fund and appropriated to MMB for a onetime payment to the Teachers Retirement Association.

Section 8. Transition requirements; Crosswinds school. Provides that, if another district or charter school operates a school at the Crosswinds site after the 2016-2017 school year, a student may continue to enroll at that site. Clarifies the calculation of certain aids for a district that may operate a school at the Crosswinds site during the 2017-2018 school year.

Section 9. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 10. Repealer. (a) Repeals the statutory provision relating to the referendum revenue and authority for districts to which is attached territory of a district that is dissolved voluntarily.
(b) Repeals the statutory authority for the Perpich Center to operate the Crosswinds school, effective July 1, 2017.

Article 6.  Nutrition

Section 1. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Article 7.  Libraries

Section 1. Advice and instruction. Clarifies that the department may provide advice and assistance on library administrative issues to school libraries.

Section 2. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Article 8. Early Childhood and Family Support

Section 1. Establishment; purpose. Clarifies the purpose of the early learning scholarship program.

Section 2. Family eligibility. Provides that a child who has not yet turned five on September 1 of the current school year is eligible for an early learning scholarship.

Section 3. Administration. Directs the commissioner to give highest priority for scholarships to children who: have a parent under 21 who is pursuing a diploma or GED, are in foster care or in need of protection or services, or have experienced homelessness in last two years.  Strikes obsolete language.

Section 4. Early childhood care and education program study. Requires the Legislative Coordinating Commission (LCC) to provide for a study of early childhood care and education programs, including those housed at the departments of education, human services, and health. Requires the LCC to contract with a consultant to conduct the study. Requires the consultant to consult with various stakeholder groups. Requires certain content elements and recommendations in the study report.

Section 5 and 6. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Article 9. Community Education and Prevention

Section 1. Community partnership coalition programs. Authorizes school districts to establish community partnership coalition programs in their community education program to support the collaborative work of school organizations and other community organizations.

Section 2. Use of general revenue. Authorizes school districts to use general community education revenue for a community partnership coalition program. Authorizes a school district to seek grant funding from the commissioner for its community partnership coalition program.

Section 3. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Article 10. Self-sufficiency and Lifelong Learning

Section 1. Performance tracking system. Aligns timelines and measures included in Minnesota adult basic education performance measures statute with changes in federal requirements.

Section 2 to 5, 7 and 8. Commissioner-selected high school equivalency test. Authorizes the commissioner to select a high school equivalency test, including a test other than the GED test. Makes other conforming changes. Repeals the administrative rule establishing minimum standard scores on the GED.

Section 6. Appropriations. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Article 11 – State Agencies

Section 1.  Rulemaking.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately.

Section 2.  Teacher.  Substitutes the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) for the Board of Teaching.

Section 3.  Board.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching.

Section 4.  Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board Membership.

Subdivision 1.  Appointment of members.  Establishes a nine-member board appointed by the Governor. 

Subd. 2.  Eligibility; board composition.  Requires the board to be comprised of the following members:

  1. Five teachers, at least one of whom teaches in a charter school, one from a related service category licensed by the board, and one of whom is licensed in a geographic or license shortage area.  None of the teacher representatives may be serving in an administrative function or any position with the exclusive bargaining representative of teachers;
  2. One superintendent;
  3. One school district human resources director;
  4. One elementary or secondary school principal; and
  5. One member of the public that may be a current or former school board member.

Subd. 2a. First appointments.  (a) Directs the governor to nominate all board members.  Establishes the initial terms of the board members.

(b) Declares current members of the Board of Teaching ineligible for first appointments to the PELSB for four years.

Subd. 4.  Terms, compensation; removal; vacancies.  Establishes chapter 214 as the controlling law for provisions related to board operations if they are not provided for in this chapter.

Subd. 4a. Administration.  (a) Directs the board to appoint an executive director of the PELSB and review the director and set their salary. 

(b) Establishes the executive director as the chief administrative office for the board.  

(c) Requires the Department of Administration to provide administrative support services according to Minnesota Statutes, section 16B.371.

(d) Requires the Department of Education to provide offices and other space at no cost until January 1, 2020.  After that date, allows the board to contract with the Department of Education or the Department of Administration for offices and other space. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 5.  Meetings.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Requires the executive director to fulfill the duties of section 122A.09, subdivision 9. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 6.  Code of ethics.   Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 7.  Advise members of profession.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 8.  Election of chair and officers.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 9.  Licensing.  (a) Requires the PELSB to license teachers except for supervisory personnel.  Prohibits the board from delegating its licensing authority.  Directs the board to evaluate candidates for compliance with licensure requirements and to develop licensure verification requirements. 

(b) Directs the board to adopt rules to establish a passing score on a board-adopted skills examination for a tier 2, 3, or 4 teaching license. 

(c) Directs the board to adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs, alternative teacher preparation programs, and Montessori teacher training programs.

(e) Directs the board to adopt rules establishing a passing score on pedagogy and licensure-specific teaching skills exams for Tier 2, 3, or 4 teaching licenses. 

(g) Provides licensure renewal requirements for Tier 3 and 4 teacher licensure candidates. 

(j) Strikes the provision for life licenses. 

(n) Strikes a requirement for the Board of Teaching to adopt rules related to applicants trained in other states and in alternative teaching licensure programs. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 10.  Teacher and administrator preparation and performance data; report.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. Requires the teacher and administrator preparation program survey results on student and graduate satisfaction to be disaggregated by race, except when disaggregation would reveal personally identifiable information or would not yield statistically reliable results. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 11.  Register of persons licensed.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 12.  Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board money.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective immediately. 

Section 13.  Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board must adopt rules.  (a) Requires the board to adopt rules to implement certain sections. 

(b) Declares that session law or statute prevail when a rule is in conflict with a session law or statute.  Requires terms adopted in rule to be clearly defined and not construed to conflict with terms adopted in statute or session law. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 14.  Permissions.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching.  Strikes language relating to one-year professional licenses for Montessori trained teachers teaching in a Montessori program. Strikes language relating to one-year waivers for certain career and technical education teachers.  Allows a candidate that has a career and technical education certification to apply for a tier 1 license. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 15.  District Verification of Teacher Licenses.  Substitutes the PELSB for the Department. 

Effective Date.  Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 16.  Survey of districts.  Ends the Commissioner’s survey of school districts and teacher preparation programs in 2020. 

Section 17Services provided. Strikes language relating to the Commissioner providing services to the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective July 1, 2018. 

Section 18Coordination with Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board. Substitutes the PELSB for the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 19.  Transfer of Powers.  (a) Transfers the responsibilities of the Board of Teaching and the Department of Education related to licensure and credentialing of teachers to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board. Transfers all classified and unclassified positions associated with the transferred responsibilities to the PELSB. 

(b) Transfers the responsibilities of the Department of Education related to licensure of school administrators to the Board of School Administrators. 

(c) Requires the PELSB to review all Board of Teaching rules and amend or repeal the rules not consistent with statute.  Requires the PELSB to review all teacher preparation programs approved by the Board of Teaching. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 20.  First Appointments to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board.  Requires the governor to make the first appointment to the board by September 1, 2017, for terms that begin January 1, 2018.

Section 21.  Implementation Report.  Directs the PELSB to report to the legislature on the implementation of the teacher licensure system. 

Effective Date. Makes the section effective January 1, 2018. 

Section 22. Appropriations; Department of Education.  Establishes the agency’s budget. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 23. Appropriations; Board of Teaching. Establishes the Board of Teaching’s budget.  See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 24. Appropriations; Minnesota State Academies. Establishes the budget for the Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and Blind. See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 25. Appropriations; Perpich Center for Arts Education (PCAE). Establishes the PCAE’s budget.  See fiscal tracking sheets.

Section 26.  Revisor Instruction.  Directs the revisor to substitute the term “Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board” for “Board of Teaching” in Minnesota statutes and rules. 

Article 12 – Forecast Adjustments.

See fiscal tracking sheets.

AMB/BA/JL/syl

 
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