The Stories Behind the School District’s Legislative Platform

On Thursday, Hopkins School Board directors adopted state and federal legislative platforms presented by the Legislative Action Coalition.

The proposals can seem at first glance to be just a lengthy list of wants and needs. But the reality is each one’s a carefully considered plank that sits in the context of larger discussions.

Here’s a look at the stories behind the proposals.

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“The State of Minnesota Must …”

“1. Meet its constitutional obligation to fully fund E-12 education.”

The state has a constitutional obligation to fund education—specifically to "make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state." Last year, even quoted the state constitution to remind lawmakers of that.

“It’s important to remind our legislators of their constitutional obligation to fully fund education,” School Board Director Betsy Anderson said Thursday. “Sometimes they forget.”

The challenge is that the constitution doesn’t specify exactly what level is appropriate. In other words, “fully funded” is in the eye of the beholder.

Ultimately, it’s up to legislators at the Capitol to hash out an agreement.

The other notable detail is that the district specified E-12 instead of K-12—a reference to early childhood education. This is the district’s first time mentioning E-12 in a legislative platform, a decision whose reasoning is made clear in plank No. 5.

“2. Establish a definite timeline to repay school funding shifts so that school districts avoid incurring additional borrowing costs.”

School funding shifts have frustrated districts across Minnesota since the state started using them to balance its budget. The state historically paid schools 90 percent of their state money in one fiscal year and the remaining 10 percent in the next.

Minnesota lawmakers and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty changed this to a 70-30 split to balance the state’s budget—effectively borrowing from schools. This often forced them to use short-term borrowing, thereby incurring interest costs. Legislators this year dropped that to a 60-40 split.

Although Hopkins hasn’t yet had to use short-term borrowing to cover these shifts, it expects to do so in 2012.

The challenge with returning the shifts to historical levels is that the state still faces the same budget difficulties that prompted it to start using the shifts in the first place. So far there haven’t been many proposals for a way out—although the LAC .

“3. Fully fund special education and other mandates.”

Both state and federal special education funding falls short of mandated levels.

“4. Restructure Minnesota’s general education funding formula to include the implicit price deflator (the formula’s inflation index when calculating state and local government education funding) in recognition of unique price pressures affecting public schools. “

This is a perennial request from school districts that would adjust school payments to compensate for inflation. Schools argue that keeping payments the same in the face of rising prices is tantamount to a cut since they can do less with that money. Critics counter that such automatic adjustments give the state less flexibility to manage tighter budgets.

“5. Fully fund early childhood education for at-risk children to close achievement and school-readiness gaps. Funding early childhood programming should be prioritized over all-day kindergarten.”

This is one of the more-intriguing proposals because it prioritizes two longtime wishes of the school district: early childhood education and all-day kindergarten. Last year’s platform actually urged legislators to fully fund both.

But Anderson said studies have shown that early childhood education has a great impact on achievement that a move to all-day kindergarten.

“We believe that—push come to shove—the state should be putting their money there,” she said.

“6. Oppose the use of private school vouchers or “scholarships” to ensure that public education funds remain within the public education system.”

It’s not unusual for public schools to compete with private schools, but Anderson said keeping money within the public education system is especially important when times are as tight as they are now.

“7. Replace the current criterion-referenced Minnesota MCA tests with nationally-normed assessments that measure student learning and achievement along a continuous growth curve (for example, the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress test).”

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires standardized testing to determine whether schools make adequate yearly progress. Minnesota uses the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, whose results aren't available until the next year and don't show growth of individual students.

Hopkins would prefer to use the Measures of Academic Progress, which students already take in the spring and the fall, because results are more timely and show what individual students learned during the year.

MAP tests are also comparable across the country—with Hopkins scoring for student growth. By contrast, MCAs are state-specific and attention tends to focus on categories where students are deemed not proficient—regardless of how much those students learned during the year.

“8. Oppose the use of standardized test scores as the exclusive evaluation tool of student, teacher, and principal performance.”

This plank is part of the larger debate over education accountability. But notably, Hopkins already has its unique “Hopkins Compensation Model” that replaces traditional length of service and education increases with career ladders for teachers, professional development, a revised teacher-evaluation system, performance pay and an alternative salary schedule.

“9. Develop a statewide system to share digital curriculum resources that promotes best practices, minimizes duplication of effort, and increases efficiencies.”

Technology has been a huge part of recent discussions about how best to educate children—including embracing pilot programs and closely . So it’s perhaps no surprise its platform pushes for a coordinated statewide digital effort.

“10. Maintain school districts’ ability to determine when the place levy questions on the election ballot.”

Earlier this year, Farmington Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-District 36A) to even years. Garofalo said lower voter turnout and participation in the off-year elections give school districts an unfair advantage when they ask voters for more money.

Schools counter that odd-year elections can actually boost voter engagement because the referendums don’t get buried by more-visible political contests, such as a presidential election.

“11. Ensure that reform to integration revenue and the desegregation rule continues to provide equitable learning opportunities, address the achievement gap, and enhance cultural awareness.”

Integration revenue was intended to close the gap between white students and students of color and enhance cultural awareness. But a 2005 report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor urged greater focus and oversight. Various bodies have been examining the issue ever since, and the school district wants to ensure than any reform continues to advance the goals above.

“12. Provide a plan to license qualified special education providers by portfolio or experience so that students with autism spectrum disorder continue to receive high-quality education.”

This is a niche topic that even school board members had to ask about. Special Services Director Linda Gardner introduced the issue because lobbyists have been pushing to require a special license for those who work with autistic students. That license can take as many as four years of additional education, and most colleges don’t yet have programs in place.

wants an alternative license for those already working in the classroom so the district doesn’t have to pull out the professionals who have established a relationship with the students. 

“The Federal Government Must …”

“1. Remove the punitive nature of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) and reauthorize a federal bill that rewards student growth.”

Hopkins Public Schools is hardly alone wanting to change the No Child Left Behind Act. Eleven states, including Minnesota, have formally submitted requests for waivers from key provisions of the law.

“2. Fully fund federal mandates. If the federal government imposes legislation on school districts, they must fully fund them, starting with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

“3. Increase funding for early childhood education for at-risk children to close achievement and school-readiness gaps.

“4. Oppose the use of private school vouchers or ‘scholarships’ to ensure that public education funds remain within the public education system.

“5. Provide funding for mandated digital assessments and the appropriate technology infrastructure to enable continuing instruction during testing periods.”

Planks two through five all echo the state platform above.