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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July 6, 2001

Summary: What happened in the legislature?

The 2001 legislative session continued to drive forward the "restructuring" of education in Minnesota. Yet, there were significant victories. Both are listed below.

The Profile of Learning:

The public outcry to repeal the Profile of Learning found a sympathetic ear in the MN House of Representatives which passed an outright repeal effort and sent it on to the K-12 Education Finance conference committee. Once more, this demonstrates the continued, deep opposition to Minnesota's education restructuring which undermines the value and integrity of our schools.

Governor Ventura made it clear to all legislators early-on that he would veto any education bill that messed with the Profile. That meant that the House would have to have been willing to shut down education spending over the unwillingness of the MN Senate to consider a repeal and a Governor who backed them up. Under that scenario, a repeal of the Profile was not going to happen. The House was not going to allow itself to be seen as those responsible for shutting down education funding.

One cannot overstate the importance of the 2002 Governor's race and the 2002 legislative and congressional elections, all from districts with newly redrawn boundaries. Significant positive change at the state level must come from a Governor, the one who alone oversees all state agencies. Imagine the difference this year had the message from the Governor been, "I will veto any education bill that does not put in place local control and academic achievement for our children." Or imagine a Governor who insisted that the Department of CFL actually told taxpayers the truth about the federal mandates and supported legislation to oppose them.

What did happen?

1. HF2: Article 2, Section 3 1. Involuntary Career Tracking was prohibited. This was a major victory in the battle against manipulating our children for other peoples' interests. Look for districts to insist that everything is "voluntary." In Minnesota, however, students are commonly required to choose some career pathway before advancing to secondary school. Their classes are then molded around that goal. This "obligates a student to involuntarily select a career interest, employment goals, or related job training." Nor is a strictly academic achievement track ever provided as an option, again making a career choice "involuntary."
   
2. HF2: Article 2, Section 67 2. Testing requirements were only slightly strengthened. Statewide testing now must include a "sufficient" number of math questions without the use of a calculator. (This language replaced the original House language, "Calculators are prohibited while taking statewide math tests.")
   
   House language that would have required that all reading tests use more than simply newspaper articles; that tests must measure academic knowledge and not students' values, attitudes and beliefs; and that tests must have a single correct answer were all removed from the bill. Said Senator Martha Robertson regarding limiting tests to academic knowledge, "We don't agree with that!)
   
3. HF2: Article 2, Section 67 3. The public and parents have access to the statewide tests. This is a very important accomplishment. "Upon receiving a written request, the Commissioner must make available to parents a copy of their student's actual answer sheet to the test questions." This is an opportunity for parents to examine the questions asked and to review the accuracy of the test scoring.
   
4. HF2: Article 2, Section 4 4. Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) are expanded to include 7th grade. Until now, MCAs (which measure the implementation of the Profile of Learning) were administered in 3rd, 5th and 8th grade. This could be seen as a setback. However, new federal legislation, "No Child Left Behind," once passed and signed by President Bush, will itself expand MCAs as a federal mandate to every grade from 3rd to 8th grade. That is where the real setback is happening. [Minnesota's entire congressional delegation voted against the expansion of the MCAs. See our update.]
   
5. The plan to make schools the health care providers for our children was blocked. This was another huge victory, which actually happened last March. HF788, which was defeated, would have included universal mental health screening in schools, extensive personal data collection and numerous other disturbing provisions to turn schools into mental health clinics. (See our update.)
   
   Proponents of this expansion were deeply surprised and disappointed at its failure, and they intended to slip demonstration projects into final omnibus bills. It became evident, however, that the issue was being carefully tracked. Public awareness discouraged its inclusion in any form. Expect its return another year.

Baby Ed:

We dodged the bullet on Baby Ed this session. Checking the advance of a comprehensive Baby Ed system in Minnesota was a major victory this session. In a bitter defeat for advocates of the cradle-to-grave system, most programs were left in place as they are. The dreaded "demonstration projects" were rejected for lack of money. The House committee, under Rep. Barb Sykora, did a good job of holding their ground. Exposing the Baby Ed agenda was a priority for us this year. Imposing early childhood services on our state as an entitlement would put government in the driver's seat in the care and major decisions over our children.

Most disappointing, however, is the almost complete absence of legislators on these committees who are able and willing to provide articulate leadership to oppose a comprehensive state takeover of the role of families. As a result, proponents of redefining the rights and roles of parents and government proceed unimpeded in their arguments for radical change. Many legislators willing to argue that it is too costly. Limiting their arguments to money, however, assures eventual passage of the system incrementally, for, sooner or later, funds will be made available.

We anguish over the pressure to put a radical childcare system for all into place in Minnesota and throughout this nation, a system that will be run by Washington, DC bureaucrats with an agenda for transforming our children. (See our update.)

The pressure to implement a Baby Ed system in Minnesota is like the pressure on a dam, just waiting its time to be loosed. Unless we citizens become far more vocal and combative, more willing to insist that our elected officials stand and fight this battle publicly on our behalf, there will be no stopping its implementation within one or two years. Keep this issue on the front burner of every statewide and legislative race coming up. A Governor has tremendous power to advance or contain an agenda.

Centralized education funding at the state:

Some version of this "reform" was supported by the House, the Senate and the Governor. Like fighting a tidal wave, education activists were  unable to convince legislators it was a bad idea.

Centralizing all of education spending at the state level is one of the essential steps to creating centralized control of education. Lots of reasons were presented as to why it was a good idea, and lots of good legislators believe in those reasons.

The big picture of "systemic" change in education, however, requires significant control through the federal government, a task made much more difficult working through independent school districts. Not impossible, but much more difficult. Watch for the state to quickly move to consolidate all school districts into county-wide districts, moving control farther and farther from taxpayers and parents. Look for state-wide collective bargaining and teachers as state employees. We were deeply disappointed in public lack of understanding of these issues.

Centralized government workforce system:

The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 has set in motion the takeover of every state's jobs placement, jobs training and skills credentialing programs. We made significant progress in educating individuals about some of the dangers of this restructuring. Turning the behemoth around, however, was bigger than any of us. (See our update.)

As stated before, involuntary career tracking was prohibited thanks to the work of a few key legislators. The state-unified plan will also be reconsidered and rewritten, perhaps providing opportunities to make some worthwhile changes in the final plan. We hope that legislators, in the months ahead, will take the time to investigate the profound implications of the changes they are implementing.

We were there!

Most significant, however, is the active, alert and articulate presence at the Capitol, day in and day out, of parents and citizens who support freedom and academic achievement for our children. Without that presence, the new system has no meaningful opposition whatever. The new system would proceed unimpeded with an uniformed and compliant public who would willingly accept what they would otherwise abhor.

Being the eyes, ears, and voice at the state Capitol for those who cherish our freedom and our future is an all-consuming task. We thank David Thompson, who served us all well in that role. We also thank the many citizens and other grassroots activist organizations who voluntarily showed up at many hearings and meetings with legislators to state our urgent concerns.

A truism in politics is: "The world belongs to those who show up." For many of us, that also meant staying to the bitter end, sometimes well into the morning hours, and then showing up again at hearings in the morning. No longer are the implementers of this system like one team on a football field that runs back and forth making touchdowns with no opposing team. They know we are present, challenging, reporting, testifying, researching, calling, writing and showing up. Thank you to all who were part of the 2001 effort and for the support of the telephone calls, letters and emails.

Report by Julie Quist
Maple River Education Coalition, Vice President

EdAction - 105 Peavey Rd, Ste 116, Chaska, MN  55318 
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