Politics & Government

Latz: K-12 Education Bill is 'Deficient'

The state senator criticized the bill for funding cuts, collective bargaining changes.

Add K-12 education to the already long list of issues that divide DFLers and Republicans.

State Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) said the K-12 education bill progressing through the Legislature is “deficient.” The bill would actually increase per-pupil payments to schools. But these gains are offset by cuts or freezes to special education and so-called “integration aid” for large school districts like Minneapolis.

Latz—who represents Golden Valley, Hopkins and St. Louis Park—said cuts like those made to special education pit different categories of students against one another—a problem made all-the-more acute because schools must obey unfunded federal mandates regarding special education.

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The elimination of integration aid—which would be replaced by financial incentives for any district that can improve student literacy—would not take any money away from the suburban districts that Latz represents. But he said it is nevertheless still a bad idea because it hurts students in those larger districts.

“We need to have those students be successful in order for the region to be effective,” Latz said.

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Integration aid aims to close the achievement gap between white students and minority students. Yet Minnesota continues to have a large achievement gap, and Republicans say the integration aid program does not work.

Some of the most contentious issues don’t involve state funding, although supporters say they are necessary because of the budget crisis. The bill would freeze pay for public school employees, limit teacher strikes, eliminate tenure in favor of five-year contracts and use tests for part of the teacher-evaluation process.

Latz said there’s broad consensus that teacher evaluation is a good thing but that the question is how much of that evaluation should involve test scores. He also worries about teachers being targeted by principals who rule by fear or arbitrary decisions. Latz, who does employment law, said he’s seen a number of employment evaluations that changed dramatically just because a new supervisor took over.

Despite the passion that the bill has generated on both sides, the likelihood of it actually becoming law is slim. Gov. Mark Dayton opposes many of the measures in the bill and has said he won’t sign a school funding bill without an overall agreement on taxes and spending. Latz said the “direct attacks on the integrity of collective bargaining” are among the biggest non-starters.

Still, he said the current phase is still important because it will set the stage for future negotiations.

“It is a preseason game, but the parties are staking out their negotiating chits in the pool here,” he said.

With that in mind, Latz’s message for schools is simple: “Hunker down. It could be a while.”

 

Here’s what’s happened this past week with other bills authored or co-authored by your legislators:

Latz

  • Introduced a resolution congratulating the Hopkins High School girls basketball team on winning the 2011 . SR0063 was introduced March 31.
  • Introduced a resolution congratulating the Hopkins High School boys basketball team on winning the 2011 . SR0064 was introduced March 31.
  • Introduced a bill for public safety, judiciary, corrections, and human rights appropriations and for the Faribault correctional facility easement acquisition authority. SF0895 was introduced March 17.
  • Introduced a bill establishing a building code administrators and inspections board. SF1049 was introduced March 28.


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