1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; allowing licensed elementary 
  1.3             school teachers to provide instruction at home; 
  1.4             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.5             chapter 124D.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [124D.110] [LICENSED TEACHERS; AT-HOME 
  1.8   INSTRUCTION.] 
  1.9      (a) Except as specifically provided in this section, all 
  1.10  applicable laws governing public schools apply to the licensed 
  1.11  teacher and the instruction provided under this section. 
  1.12     (b) A licensed elementary school teacher interested in 
  1.13  providing instruction, including providing a specialized 
  1.14  curriculum for which the teacher is specifically licensed, may 
  1.15  instruct up to ten elementary students in the teacher's home 
  1.16  subject to approval by the school district in which the teacher 
  1.17  resides.  An interested teacher must apply to the resident 
  1.18  school district for authorization to provide instruction under 
  1.19  this section and must provide the school district with specific 
  1.20  information about: 
  1.21     (1) the characteristics of the students the teacher seeks 
  1.22  to instruct; 
  1.23     (2) admission policies and procedures; 
  1.24     (3) the content of the curriculum the teacher intends to 
  1.25  use and the educational goals the teacher seeks to achieve; 
  2.1      (4) the suitability of the teacher's home for this purpose; 
  2.2      (5) accounting measures for reporting education-related 
  2.3   expenditures; and 
  2.4      (6) the process the teacher will use to report periodically 
  2.5   to the district and parents on school-related matters, including 
  2.6   a proposed agreement with the district regarding district 
  2.7   oversight of the teacher's educational program and students' 
  2.8   educational progress and the teacher's obligation to recommend 
  2.9   to the district whether to promote a student to a subsequent 
  2.10  grade.  The district may require additional information. 
  2.11     (c) A district must approve or disapprove a teacher's 
  2.12  application within 60 days of receiving the application.  
  2.13  Approval must be on a year-to-year basis. 
  2.14     (d) A district that approves a teacher's application must 
  2.15  employ or contract with the teacher, consistent with the benefit 
  2.16  terms of the district's collective bargaining agreement with 
  2.17  teachers then in effect, to the extent applicable. 
  2.18     (e) A teacher who provides instruction under this section 
  2.19  is eligible to receive state education aid paid through the 
  2.20  district equal to the average amount of state education aid 
  2.21  available for a charter school student.  The district first must 
  2.22  use this state aid to pay all employment-related benefits for 
  2.23  which the teacher is eligible; the district then must pay 
  2.24  remaining state aid amounts to the teacher.  The teacher must 
  2.25  use a portion of the state aid the teacher receives, to the 
  2.26  extent needed, to provide students with textbooks and other 
  2.27  instructional materials and supplies, which the teacher may 
  2.28  borrow or purchase from the district. 
  2.29     (f) The district in which the teacher resides must provide 
  2.30  transportation within the district for students receiving 
  2.31  instruction under this section only if the district incurs no 
  2.32  additional cost.  The district may provide transportation under 
  2.33  other circumstances, including negotiating with the teacher to 
  2.34  use a portion of the state aid the teacher receives under 
  2.35  paragraph (e) to pay students' transportation costs.  Parents 
  2.36  must transport their students if district transportation is 
  3.1   unavailable. 
  3.2      (g) A student who receives instruction under this section 
  3.3   is eligible to participate in the extracurricular activities of 
  3.4   the district on the same basis as elementary students attending 
  3.5   schools within the district. 
  3.6      <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective for the 
  3.7   2002-2003 school year and later.