Following this afternoon’s Senate session, Republican Sen. Dave Thompson defended action to freeze school employee wages.
Then DFL Sen. Terri Bonoff criticized the school employee wage freeze bill.
Governor Mark Dayton and Commissioner of Education Brenda Cassellius lay out their vision for education reform in Minnesota.
Press release from Governor Dayton on education reform.
… Continue Reading
A report released earlier this month by the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality finds that the Legacy Amendment, which Minnesota voters passed in November 2008, has generated a return of $1.95 for every dollar of Legacy funds invested in history programs and projects — to the direct benefit of state and local economies. The Hutchinson Leader reported that for the 2010-2011 biennium, the state legislature appropriated $22 million in Legacy funds to the Minnesota Historical Society for new statewide programs and projects. With those funds, the society has developed statewide programs and projects centered on education and preservation. The society also awarded 474 grants to 343 history organizations across Minnesota.
“We have taken our responsibility very seriously. We have carefully invested Legacy funds in projects and programs that are impacting Minnesotans in all 87 counties in the state,” said Minnesota Historical
Society Director Michael Fox.
“Legacy funding has given us a huge opportunity to meet the needs of students and teachers, which benefits all the people of Minnesota,” said Wendy Jones, head of education programs at the Minnesota History Center.
On a 9-7 vote, the Minnesota Senate Education Committee advanced a plan Tuesday, January 25th, that would establish a two-year salary freeze on school district employees. Speaking in favor of the bill is Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, author of the bill, and Senate Education Chair Gen Olson, R-Minnetrista. Speaking against the motion is Senate Assistant DFL Caucus Leader Terri Bonoff.
Press release from Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s Office
St. Paul, MN —Governor Mark Dayton today appointed Dr. Sheila Wright, professor and Dean in the School of Education at Hamline University, as the Director of the Office of Higher Education. Dr. Wright has dedicated her career in education to addressing the crucial issues of teacher quality and the achievement gap, working in P-12 and higher education, as well as in state government and non-profit organizations. She is widely respected as an innovator in the areas of faculty governance, assessment, general education, tenure, diversity, and community partnerships.
Prior to joining the faculty at Hamline, Dr. Wright served as associate dean of academic programs and a tenured faculty member in the School of Education at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. She has also taught at Carleton College in Northfield and at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
The Minnesota Office of Higher Education provides students with financial aid programs and information to help them gain access to post-secondary education. The agency also serves as the state’s clearinghouse for data, research and analysis on post-secondary enrollment, financial aid, finance and trends. It administers up to $150 million dollars in need-based grants to Minnesota residents attending eligible institutions in Minnesota. Dr. Wright replaces Acting Director Barbara S. Schlaefer and her term runs till Jan 5, 2015.
“I am delighted that Dr. Wright has agreed to join our administration,” said Governor Dayton. “Her nationally recognized leadership in education will help guide our administration’s efforts to restore Minnesota to its former position of national leadership in making higher education more accessible, more affordable, and more responsive to the needs of Minnesota’s college students.”
“This is a tremendous honor and privilege,” said Dr. Wright. “I share Governor Dayton’s strong commitment to education. I believe that giving our residents the best and most affordable higher education is the best way to ensure future prosperity and economic success for our entire state, and look forward to working with the Governor to find new and better ways to make that happen.”
Dr. Wright previously served as an adjunct at North Carolina State University, Saint Augustine’s College, and Coastal Carolina Community College. Prior to her work in higher education, she began her career in visual arts as a teacher for Wake County Public Schools in Raleigh, North Carolina, and worked in leadership roles at the state level both in North Carolina and Alabama. She graduated magna cum laude with a BFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, earned her MAE from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her PhD in curriculum and instruction from North Carolina State University.
Video by Oliver Dystra and Cirien Saadeh, text by Mike McIntee
During Tim Pawlenty’s term as Minnesota Governor, the state’s largest teacher union was one of his favorite targets. Pawlenty often accused Education Minnesota of standing in the way of education reform. The union opposed Pawlenty’s attempts to implement performance based pay measures called Q-comp. Now that Pawlenty has been replaced by DFLer Mark Dayton, the union wants to consider using some elements of education reform Pawlenty was pushing, but with more nuance.
“I think a lot of Minnesotans would be surprised to learn that many teachers go years without a performance review,” said Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher. “That failure is inexcusable. It’s a disservice to the students, their parents, the taxpayers and the teachers themselves.”
In addition to the performance reviews, Dooher says the union supports alternative teacher licensing. Pawlenty had been pushing an alternative licensing program called “Teach For America”. The union opposed Teach For America saying it badly weakened the standards for becoming a teacher and could put unqualified people in charge of a classroom.
“We objected because it makes no sense that while we’re demanding more from our students, we would demand so much less from their teachers and then expect better results,” said Dooher.
However, Dooher says there is a need for “alternative pathways” for teachers when there are shortages of teachers, either geographically or in subject areas. Or where mid-career professionals want to teach in their area of expertise, there should be accelerated pathways into the profession.
Dooher said candidates for alternative teaching licenses would need to demonstrate they actually know how to teach children.
He said they must have a degree in the field they’re going to teach, pass reading, writing and math skills tests, and they must be supervised for at least 90 school days before they’re fully in charge of a classroom.
“We will support responsible alternative licensure efforts. We won’t support measures that lower teaching standards or put unqualified people in front of our children,” said Dooher.
Full text of Education Minnesota President Dooher’s comments … Continue Reading
During his inaugural address Governor Mark Dayton suggested that business should “adopt” a local school, helping out with funding, textbooks and the like. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak was happy to hear the Governor bring up the topic. Rybak says Minneapolis has a program like it called “Achieve Minneapolis” and he wants to expand it.
“We’re already talking about ramping up our ‘adopt a school’ program, so I was thrilled to see that,” said Rybak. “The Governor’s call here can help us take it to the next step”.
Minneapolis’ program includes inviting business owners to be “principal for a day”.
Rybak was a candidate for the DFL Gubernatorial nomination. If things turned out differently, it could have been him taking the oath of office today. We asked the Mayor if that thought ran through his head during the ceremony.
“Yeah, but if things were different, a safe could have fallen on my head too. I think he (Dayton) will do a great job.”
Sesame Street’s Elmo joins White House Chef Sam Kass in White House kitchen to talk about the importance of healthy and delicious school meals following President Obama’s signing of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act This legislation is an important step forward toward ensuring that no child goes to school hungry and that all children have access to healthy, nutritious foods at school.
Following an Election Integrity press conference this morning, Sarah Walker, CEO of 180 Degrees Inc., discussed the importance of re-enfranchising ex-felons, and returning people to the community after they have served their sentence and probation.
Two pieces of proposed federal legislation could make schools safer for all students at risk for being bullied, including LGBT students. At a press conference on November 18 U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), which protects students from harassment, bullying, and violence based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The SNDA has 29 Senate cosponsors. Its companion bill authored by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo) also enjoys broad support.
Franken was joined at the conference by Minnesotan Tammy Aaberg. In July 2010 her 15-year-old son Justin committed suicide after prolonged bullying at school about his being gay. Aaberg told the audience that she had never realized the torment Justin had experienced until his friends told her. She discovered the Anoka-Hennepin School District provided no definitions of LGBT bullying or guidelines for intervention. That bullying would go unchecked in the presence of teachers and staff. And that school policy prohibited classroom discussion on any matter related to sexual orientation.
“Too often this kind of bullying gets swept under the rug. And the sexual orientation policy currently in place only serves to perpetuate the feelings of isolation that many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students already feel,” Aaberg said.
The second piece of legislation was introduced by U.S Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). The Safe Schools Improvement Act (SISA) is a federal anti-bullying bill that protects students based on race, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. Casey was joined by 16-year-old Joey Kemmerling of Pennsylvania. He too talked about prolonged bullying and anti-gay violence, including a student who threatened him with a knife. Joey asked school officials to respond, but they didn’t.
Joey recalled the student coming up to him and looking him in the eyes. “I didn’t know who he was. But I knew that he hated me,” Joey said. “And he said, ‘Your life is in my hands.’”
The Casey bill, like the Franken bill, has widespread support with 130 cosponsors in the House and 15 cosponsors in the Senate.
And in Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports the Minnesota School Board Association is advising school districts to expand their harassment and violence policy to specify LGBT students and other vulnerable groups. The MSBA recommendation counters a belief held by many (including Gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer) that parents, not schools, should teach kids not to bully LGBT students.
Senator Al Franken announces the “Understanding The True Cost Of College Act” that would require colleges to use easier to understand language in their financial aid package offers to students.
Hindia Ali, Youth Leadership Development Coordinator at Somali Action Alliance is a delegate the the 2012 National Democratic Convention, the first Somali-American to be a delegate.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, President Obama ripped into Republicans for their lack of compromising and for the first time mentioned his likely Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, by name.
Minnesota women in healthcare predicaments met with with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Sen. Al Franken, Rep. Betty McCollum and Governor Mark Dayton on Friday — the two year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.
President Obama says many of the factors that are driving up gas prices are out of our control such as unrest in the Middle East. However, he points out there are some things that are in our control such as fraud and manipulation that can cause prices to spike even further.
President Obama talks about an all-of-the-above American energy strategy at a Daimler manufacturing plant in North Carolina that’s making trucks that run on natural gas.
Senator Al Franken is used to close elections. This time he didn’t beat his opponents, but had to settle for a tie with Representative Chip Cravaack in the second annual Minnesota Congressional delegation hotdish cookoff.
President Obama would like to reform taxes so we reward companies that invest in the US, not ones that send jobs overseas. But there are some barriers, such as Congress.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu uses his photo op with President Obama today to talk up how the US and Israel are united against Iran, which is suspected of trying to create a nuclear bomb.
President Obama warns that “loose talk” of war was only helping Iran, while pushing back against charges from GOP presidential contenders that he has been less than a loyal ally to Israel.
Members of the Welfare Rights Committee disrupt the signing of the Vikings Stadium Bill. They claim, “Vikings Got Bailed Out, We Got Sold Out!”
Somali women and men gather to discuss the many aspects of female infertility with medical and social experts.
3M shareholders at annual meeting were asked to stop all corporate contributions to political campaigns and to disclose corporate political lobbying efforts. As expected, the resolutions were voted down, but the activists pledged to continue efforts.
Occupy backed homeowner successfully re-negotiated her loan with MN based US Bank.
After the six-week US-Dakota War of 1862, 38 Dakota men were hung in one of the largest mass executions in US History. Many argue that the trials were a sham, that is was the largest injustice in the nation’s history. Today, Representative Dean Urdahl, Chair of the Legacy Committee in Minnesota and the Civil War Task Force, seeks to, “rub a little salve in the wound,” by seeking a pardon for one of those warriors who was hung on that fateful December day. His name is Chaska.
Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL) decides to support the Vikings stadium because of the jobs it will create.
The Minnesota House and Senate have each approved different versions of a Vikings stadium proposal. So now it is up to a conference committee to reconcile the differences.
Principle or politics? On Friday, Governor Mark Dayton went heavily with principle and imperiled the politics of his top legislative priority — thousands of jobs from building a new Vikings football stadium.
A bill that would give business owners a tax cut is hailed by Senator Geoff Michel (R-Edina) as the “best piece of legislation” to be considered his year. Senator John Marty (DFL-Roseville ) counters it deserves a “smoking’ hot veto pen” because it isn’t paid for.
A Minnesota Senate attempt to override Governor Mark Dayton’s veto of a bill expanding the kinds of fireworks that can legally be sold in Minnesota fails to get the 2/3rds majority needed.
Occupy backed homeowner successfully re-negotiated her loan with MN based US Bank.
Nearly a year after the tornado that ripped through North Minneapolis, opinions vary greatly on what the poverty-stricken community needs most from local and state government. Should the City introduce “pie in the sky” ideas or focus on more immediate problems?
Representative Bobby Jo Champion talks about the challenges facing some of his constituents in North Minneapolis almost a year after a devastating tornado.
Rebuild It Right, an organization made up of architects and designers from Minneapolis, is helping homeowners advocate for quality design in the wake of the May 22nd Tornado.
The Vikings stadium deal got the support of Minneapolis City Council members. Council member Don Samuels says that this is a good deal for his constituents. It will provide jobs to a part of the city that has the highest rate of unemployment.
Local, Minneapolis non-profit Urban Homeworks works with banks and other community organizations to fight foreclosures.
Embattled homeowner Monique White took one more step Friday toward what could become an improbable victory that would let her stay in her North Minneapolis home. Judge Mark Labine will decide on Monday whether White will get a jury trial in District Court.
The Northside Economic Opportunity Network works with small businesses and micro-businesses in North Minneapolis to help them achieve success.
As we’ve been reporting for the past six months, many tornado victims who need help still haven’t gotten it.
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