EdAction
Maple River Education Coalition PAC
105 Peavey Rd, St 116 
Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931
http://www.EdAction.org
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March 12, 2001

Legislation ALERT #1

A series of "Legislation ALERTS" will be coming. Please use them.

The time has arrived in this legislative session for people to become personally involved in some of the bills quickly making their way through the system. We have told you about the information hearings, the plans, the contracts, the entire system. Now the bills that drive that system into place, piece by piece are moving forward.

Making a difference means getting involved. Legislators need to hear from you regarding the legislation being heard.  Please attend public hearings regarding these bills whenever you can. It is so important that legislators see the faces of people who oppose this system. This has been put into place for years, quietly and piece by piece, without the knowledge or involvement of the public. This must be the year for that to stop.

The Profile of Learning is fully in place, and we have experienced the difficulty in changing what has already been passed into law. Stopping new legislation from passing is far easier than changing what is already in place. Stopping bad legislation requires that only one body refuses to pass the new legislation. This is the year to stop the expansion of the stw system! But it requires your involvement!

Due to the number of e-mails our legislators receive, bulk mailings are the first to be disregarded. If you send postal mail, please take the time to send to one legislator at a time and include your full name and address. Otherwise, it will be disregarded.

Telephone calls, letters and visits are priceless. When contacting legislators, be respectful and specific. Know your bill numbers if there are specific bills.

SCHOOLS AS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS: HF 788 / SF 1058

Authors: McGuire/Sabo

HF 788 will include universal mental health screening in the schools as part of the kindergarten screening, extensive data collection, and numerous other disturbing provisions such as turning the schools into mental health clinics.

We strongly oppose this bill!

Heard Monday, March 12th in the Senate Education & Health & Family Security Committee.

To be heard Tuesday, March 13th in the House Education Committee, 8:15 a.m. 200 State Office Building.

Call members of the MN House Education Committee

HF 1015 / SF 866

This is the Department of Children, Families and Learning bill to make various technical changes. Items of particular concern are:

1. It gives the Commissioner expanded authority to withhold district financial aid to school districts if they do not comply;
2. It removes the right of 5th, 6th and 7th graders to take the Basic Skills graduation test before reaching 8th grade;
3. Article 8 includes a new homeschool requirement to submit homeschool student's standardized test scores to the public school superintendent every year; and,
4. Parents of home schoolers would be required to have a high school diploma. Currently, parents without such a diploma can home school by sending in quarterly reports, but this bill would remove that option.

Hearings are being held in both House and Senate. In light of the most serious charges of illegal grant activity by the Commissioner, brought to light by the Legislative Auditor, (see Grant Application report), granting expanded authority to the Commissioner over the local districts is particularly bad judgment.

HF 1028 - Freedom From Censorship Act

See Testimony by Michael Chapman before MN House Education Committee

The bill reads:

1.17 (b) All students shall be encouraged, and have the
1.18 opportunity, to read and study America's founding documents that
1.19 are pertinent to understanding the principles, character, and
1.20 world view of America's founders; including documents that
1.21 contributed to the foundation or maintenance of America's
1.22 representative republican form of government, the Bill of
1.23 Rights, and our free-market economic system. Districts shall
1.24 permit a principal or teacher to use, read, or post in a public
1.25 school building, classroom, or at any public school event any
2.1 excerpts or portions of the documents, writings, speeches, or
2.2 records relating to the history, heritage, or foundation of the
2.3 United States or the state of Minnesota, including, but not
2.4 limited to:
2.5 (1) the Mayflower compact;
2.6 (2) the Declaration of Independence;
2.7 (3) the Constitution of the United States;
2.8 (4) the national motto;
2.9 (5) the Federalist Papers;
2.10 (6) the Pledge of Allegiance;
2.11 (7) the national anthem;
2.12 (8) the preamble to the Constitution of the State of
2.13 Minnesota;
2.14 (9) Washington's farewell address to the nation;
2.15 (10) Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech;
2.16 (11) Lincoln's Gettysburg address;
2.17 (12) the writings, speeches, documents, or proclamations of
2.18 America's founding fathers, or the presidents of the United
2.19 States;
2.20 (13) the acts and published records of Congress; and
2.21 (14) the United States Supreme Court decisions and records.
2.22 (c) Districts may not permit the censorship of American or
2.23 Minnesota state history or heritage based on religious
2.24 references in a writing, document, or record under paragraph
2.25 (b). The use, reading, or posting of the types of documents,
2.26 writings, or records permitted under paragraphs (b) and (d) must
2.27 be for educational purposes only and must not be to promote or
2.28 establish any religion or religious belief.
2.29 (d) Districts may not permit the censorship of students who
2.30 voluntarily choose to read, write, share, report, or otherwise
2.31 study a topic which is religious in nature provided other
2.32 students are provided with the same opportunity to freely choose
2.33 a topic.

Chairman Harry Mares (651-296-5363) laid the bill over after hearing powerful testimony by David Barton. This bill needs your attention to allow it to be brought back up in committee for a vote, before the first committee deadline.

EdAction - 105 Peavey Rd, Ste 116, Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931 - edaction@lakes.com - (c) EdAction - All rights reserved.