Session Year 2015, Special Session 1

Bill Name: SF0003

Relating to E-12 education

ARTICLE 1 - GENERAL EDUCATION

Modifying charter
school general education revenue, four-day week plans, English learner, basic
and extended time revenues, the operating capital levy, the student achievement
rate, general education aid, building allocation, referendum allowance, the
referendum allowance limit, and taconite payment; requiring the commissioner to
approve flexible learning year applications within a certain time period;
authorizing creation of a new intermediate school district in Carver, Scott, and
LeSueur counties for two or more independent school districts; requiring the
department to calculate intermediate district compensatory revenue based on
certain enrollment counts for the south metro educational cooperative; requiring
the commissioner to adjust each school district tax rate and each equalizing
factor; clarifying independent school district #761, Owatonna, referendum
revenue amount; appropriating money to the department of education for general
education aid, enrollment options transportation abatement revenue,
consolidation transition, nonpublic pupil education aid and transportation,
one-room schoolhouse, and career and technical aid; repealing learning and
development revenue amount and use annual report, health insurance benefits
levies, and general education aid student achievement rate, levy, and districts
off the formula provisions

ARTICLE 2 - EDUCATION EXCELLENCE

Making
conforming changes; clarifying foreign language proficiency levels required for
proficiency certificates and gold and platinum bilingual and multilingual state
seals; directing Minnesota state colleges and universities (MnSCU) to establish
criteria to translate seals into college credit for students' demonstrated
foreign language proficiency; modifying local literacy plan and incentive aid
requirements and rigorous course taking information and report requirements for
career and technical education courses; establishing homeless and highly mobile
students data reporting; requiring the board of teaching to require teaching
candidates to demonstrate passing scores on board-adopted skills examinations
and requiring testing accommodations; allowing teacher preparation programs to
provide a year-long student teaching program; requiring the board to adopt rules
to license applicants trained in other states and alternatively prepared
teachers and requiring web publication; removing language excluding retired
principals who serve as a substitute principal from continuing education
requirements; requiring principal preparation program web reporting and
publication; modifying board teacher candidate licensure requirements; allowing
the board to grant two-year provisional licenses to licensure candidates;
expanding teacher license suspension and immediate termination conditions to
include certain sex crimes and offenses requiring predatory offender
registration; modifying teachers and applicants trained in other states
requirements; requiring the board to enter interstate agreements for teacher
licensure; modifying alternative teacher licensing preparation requirements for
two-year limited-term licensure; requiring licensing of teacher candidates with
qualifying scores; prohibiting student placement in classrooms with certain
teachers participating in certain improvement programs, have not had certain
evaluations, or have received discipline under certain conditions; prohibiting
student placement in classrooms with certain teachers who participating in
certain improvement programs, have not had certain evaluations, or have received
discipline under certain conditions; allowing educational improvement plans to
be approved by governing boards; modifying the alternative pay system; allowing
cooperative units to apply to be charter schools; modifying the staff
development program, staff development revenue, and student teacher placement
requirements; allowing 9th and 10th grade students to apply to enroll in a
concurrent enrollment course upon approval of the school district and the
postsecondary institution; allowing 10th grade pupils to substitute a reading
assessment; allowing an exception on the post-secondary enrollment options act
(PSEO) participation limit; directing eligible public postsecondary institutions
to give full credit to students for PSEO program courses; establishing
full-service community schools and a tribal nations education committee;
modifying American Indian programs and teaching and an American Indian education
aid program for certain school districts, charter schools, and American
Indian-controlled tribal contract or grant schools; specifying American Indian
education aid; modifying local literacy plan and incentive aid requirements;
expanding use of basic skills revenue; directing eligible public postsecondary
institutions to give full credit to students for completed PSEO program courses;
modifying district achievement and integration levy; providing teacher
development and evaluation revenue for educational cooperatives, education
districts, and charter school sites without alternative professional pay system
agreements; requiring a MnSCU transfer curriculum report; requiring the
commissioner to inventory existing resources and best practices available for
swimming instruction in public schools; allowing a district start date of
9/1/15; requiring a report on developmental or remedial course taking and
recommendations on service-learning; appropriating money to the department of
education for alternative compensation, achievement and integration aid,
literacy incentive aid, interdistrict desegregation or integration
transportation grants, Reading Corps, tribal contract schools, compensatory
revenue pilot project, concurrent enrollment program, success for the future,
American Indian education aid, collaborative urban educator, serveMinnesota
program, student organizations, museum and education centers, teacher
development and evaluation, Starbase MN, recovery program grants, , full-service
community schools, Minnesota math corps program, American Indian teacher
preparation grants, civic education grants, Minnesota principals??? academy,
Race 2 Reduce, Northwestern online college in the high school program, and
education partnership pilots

ARTICLE 3 - STANDARDS AND
ASSESSMENTS

Modifying graduation requirements and allowing certain older
students admission to adult high school diploma programs; modifying graduation
requirements; delaying commissioner of education academic standards and
benchmark review; requiring district use of current world languages standards;
modifying science and mathematics credit equivalencies; requiring certain
reports to the legislature; modifying statewide testing and assessment
provisions; specifying limits on local testing; requiring commissioner contract
with independent contractors to determine sufficiency of tests; appropriating
money to the commissioner of education for the statewide testing and reporting
system, ACT test reimbursement, and certain student examination and teacher
training fees; repealing the educational planning and assessment (EPAS) system)
program

ARTICLE 4 - CHARTER SCHOOLS

Recodifying charter school statutes;
making technical corrections; removing obsolete and duplicative provisions;
making clarifying changes; allowing charter schools to offer fee-based preschool
and allowing prekindergarten enrollment for children with disabilities; allowing
combined reporting; authorizing charter school mergers; appropriating money to
the department of education for charter school building lease aid

ARTICLE 5 -
SPECIAL EDUCATION

Modifying American sign language/English (ASL) interpreter
requirements, special needs student transportation, special education charter
school general and special education revenues, and services and programs
eligibility and governance; defining dyslexia; replacing the interagency early
intervention committee responsibilities with school and county board
coordination responsibilities; modifying certain provisions for individualized
education programs (IEP) related to paraprofessional training; authorizing
school districts to contract with student information system vendors able to
seamlessly transfer the records of students with disabilities; making optional
certain required goals recommendations for restrictive procedures use reduction;
requiring district special education aid reduction upon charter school special
instruction and services; authorizing third-party payments and reimbursement
under individualized family service plans; modifying reporting requirements, the
resource center for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, charter school special
education aid generation, district general revenue, excess cost aid, payment of
aids and credits to school districts, and alternative attendance programs
special and general education aid; implementing certain portions of the
recommendations of the 2013 legislative auditor report on special education;
appropriating money to the department of education for regular special
education, travel for home-based services, special education out-of-state
tuition, aid for children with disabilities, and court-placed special education
revenue; repealing the transfer to the department of education of the state
academies resource centers for the deaf or hard of hearing, and the blind or
visually impaired, each also serving multiply disabled pupils

ARTICLE 6 -
FACILTIES AND TECHNOLOGY

Modifying the definition of eligible debt service
revenue; clarifying district second tier debt service equalization revenue;
eliminating health and safety revenue programs; clarifying health and safety
capital projects; establishing long-term facilities maintenance revenue;
removing the requirement for schools to have current technology plans to receive
telecommunications/internet access equity aid; modifying the local government
definition for purposes of determining sales tax to government agencies;
requiring research of existing programs to determine best practices for schools
and districts implementing 1:1 device programs; providing for an orderly
transition in the FAIR School Crystal and FAIR School downtown; providing for an
information technology certification partnership; cancelling the previous
biennium appropriation for the IT certifications partnership; appropriating
money to the department of education for long-term equalization aid, debt
service equalization, alternative facilities bonding aid, equity in
telecommunications access, deferred maintenance aid, health and safety revenue,
the information technology certification partnership, and the innovative
technology cooperative; repealing the alternative facilities bonding and levy
program and deferred maintenance revenue

ARTICLE 7 - NUTRITION AND
ACCOUNTING

Requiring fee splitting for districts withdrawing from cooperative
units; changing the dates for certain reports and adjustments; extending school
district authority to transfer funds through fiscal year 2017; appropriating
money to the department of education for school lunch, school breakfast,
kindergarten milk, and summer school service replacement aid

ARTICLE 8 -
LIBRARIES

Allowing libraries to apply for regional library telecommunications
aid on behalf of member public libraries; appropriating money to the department
of education for basic system support, multicounty, multitype library systems,
the electronic library for Minnesota, and regional library telecommunications
aid

ARTICLE 9 - EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Authorizing certain early
education services for students from adjoining states; modifying a school
readiness program requirement; increasing school readiness aid; appropriating
money to the department of education for school readiness, early learning
scholarships, the Head Start program, early childhood family education aid,
developmental screening aid, the parent-child home program, the kindergarten
entrance assessment initiative and intervention program, the quality rating
system, early childhood programs at tribal schools, and the educate parents
partnership

ARTICLE 10 - PREVENTION

Expanding early childhood vision
screening requirements; requiring a legislative comprehensive vision examination
report; appropriating money to the department of education for community
education aid, adults with disabilities program aid, hearing-impaired adults,
school-age care revenue, the Northside achievement zone, and the St. Paul
promise neighborhood


ARTICLE 11 - SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND LIFELONG
LEARNING

Modifying the Minnesota working family income tax credit; clarifying
funding for the Minnesota working family credit under income tax provisions;
appropriating money to the department of education for adult basic education aid
and GED tests

ARTICLE 12 - STATE AGENCIES

Modifying certain provisions
relating to travel abroad programs for Minnesota secondary school students;
extending the school trust lands director term; designating the commissioner to
serve as compact commissioner for the Interstate compact on educational
opportunity for military children; appropriating money to the department of
education for the boards of teaching and school administrators, the regional
centers of excellence, the school safety technical assistance center, the school
finance division, learning for English academic proficiency and success act
implementation, information technology project services, the state academies,
and for the Perpich center for arts education

ARTICLE 13 - FORECAST
ADJUSTMENTS

Making conforming changes to appropriations consistent with the
February 2015 economic forecast
(rt)