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Maple River Education Coalition PAC
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Chaska, MN  55318 
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— In near secret midnight session
Senate committee passes Profile
March 13, 2000

In the wee hours of Wednesday night, about 11:45 p.m., with few committee members present, Sen. Pogemiller passed SF3286, his Profile fix-it bill.  The agenda was scheduled suddenly.  Not even the Senate authors of the Northstar Standard bothered to give MrEdCoPAC a call saying that the Profile bill was being heard in Committee, knowing full well it takes us hours to get to the Capitol and to inform our members. We are told that, in the middle of the hearing Sen. Pogemiller called on MrEdCo to testify - and there was no one present.  Every email we send has our telephone number and our email address.  We are not difficult to reach.  This is an outrage!  I am confident the Department of CFL is not called upon to testify without being notified in advance. 

SF3286 bill goes full force ahead with the Profile. There are some adjustments for some of the most offensive aspects of the Profile.  Pulling back on some enforcement temporarily is intended to reduce public pressure.  Full enforcement can be restored again at a later date, once the system has been put in place.

As of this moment, there appears to be zero leadership in the Senate for bringing the Northstar Standard to a vote on the Senate floor as an amendment to Pogemiller's SF3286.  The excuse is the same one: It won't pass.  Of course it won't, if no one brings it to a vote.  Just as importantly, bringing it to a vote provides accountability - it allows legislators to be held accountable for their vote.  On this contentious issue, the Northstar Standard must be brought to a Senate vote, regardless of whether it will pass.  It's a matter of good government.

Last year HF 15 was offered as an amendment on the floor of the Senate by Sen. Ziegler.  That can happen with the Northstar Standard again this year.

Please contact the Senate.  We need one and only one brave soul to stop cowering and fearlessly rally their Senate colleagues to a vote.  They must become proud, not ashamed, of speaking out for the parents, students and teachers who suffer under this system. With no courage, we will have nothing, and we will remain under the radical system of Senator Larry Pogemiller.

Every Senator must be challenged to vote for a Northstar Standard amendment on the floor of the Senate.  That will happen perhaps tomorrow, or even today.  This is being driven so fast, we have little time to inform you.

Contact Legislators!  Also contact members of the House K-12 Education Finance Committee.  Rep. Seagren needs to hear the bill in her committee. Your calls have made this the most contentious legislation before Minnesota's lawmakers.  Now is not the time to let up. We will not know the outcome until later, but we must be faithful to maintain the pressure and the energy.  That is the part we can and must fulfill.  When contacting Senators, please maintain composure and courtesy.  There are ways to communicate conviction without name-calling.

Governor Ventura, on his radio show last Friday, tried to rally the public to call their legislators on the unicameral legislation.  "If you want to be complacent and just sit back and do nothing," he said, "then nothing will happen.  They need to hear from you."  Well, we all need to be saying to Gov. Ventura, "The public is speaking loudly and clearly to you, your commissioner, and the legislators on the Profile. Get rid of it!  Replace it with the Northstar Standard. Why aren't you listening to the public?  Why do you push unicameral which the public is quiet about, but you ignore what we are passionate about?"

Highlights of Senator Pogemiller's bill SF 3286:

1. Recordkeeping software must be capable for transferring student records between schools and school districts;
2. Every school can decide, by a majority vote of the teachers and administrators and school board, the number of content standards they are ready to require for graduation and at the preparatory level.  If there is no agreement reached, all the requirements revert back to what is presently required in rule and law;
3. Districts must report to the commissioner the time frame they will follow to meet the number of content standards presently required in rule and law;
4. Districts must proceed with full implementation in all preparatory and high school content standards;
5. Student transcripts for the 1998-1999 school year must reflect work done in each of the content standards;
6. Districts will choose their method of assessing content standards as long as it is comparable to state assessments;
7. Districts must waive a student's content standard if the student is participating in a course at least as rigorous as that required by the state, if achieving the standard would preclude that student's opportunity to participate in a rigorous course, or if the standard could not have been met due to reasons beyond the control of the student;
8. Students will be scored individually, not as a group, when they are participating in group projects;
9. The commissioner will maintain a tool library of samples of assessment tools;
10. The commissioner will establish an academic panel to study the rigor of the content standards. This panel will consult with national and international education experts on academic standards;
11. The Basic Skills Tests must be gradually upgraded to an 8th grade level of achievement;
12. The Basic Skills Tests may be made available to students as early as 5th grade;
13. 3rd and 5th grade assessments shall be available for student remediation.  The results of these tests shall be made available to the public.

Notice in # 10, Senator Pogemiller, always on the cutting edge of the radical agenda, is creating an embryonic global system of education, where Minnesota is required to consult with "international experts" on setting academic standards here in Minnesota.  Where does parental, local control end up then?

Note:  The bill SF3286 previously listed on the legislative website was used by Pogemiller as a vehicle — at the hearing, he amended it to what is discussed above.  They do not update the legislative website after committee hearings, so that website does not currently reflect the actual bill as passed in committee. If you want the current wording of the bill SF3286, you have to contact the author (Pogemiller) or his staff to ask them to send or fax the latest version.  The same is true for Ness' bill in the House.

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