Democrats Continue Boycott, Education Policy Faces Growing Strains
Week 2 at the Capitol
The Week in Review
The House Democrats’ boycott continued into its second week. Democrat members claim their boycott will continue unless there is assurance from the Republicans that they won’t attempt to unseat Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee). The House GOP caucus has continued to hold floor sessions and committee hearings at the Capitol, despite the Democrats’ absence. As for the special election looming in District 40B, House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman said March 11 is the most likely date for that. The MN Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday regarding the issue of quorum and whether the Republican members have duly organized the House or not. Much quicker than anticipated, the court ruled on this matter Friday afternoon and ruled in favor of the Democrats, saying that a quorum is in fact 68 members.
Over in the Senate, leaders are successfully upholding the power sharing agreement made before the start of session. Co-chairs are holding committee hearings, and floor sessions have been routine. A special election for the vacancy in SD60 will take place on Jan. 28, and will likely give the DFL caucus back their one-seat majority. The rumor mill is churning about whether the power sharing agreement will stick around for the remainder of session. It would take 34 affirmative votes to terminate the agreement, and some are speculating that a handful of DFL members may see a benefit to keeping the agreement in place.
House Education Finance
House Ed Finance heard presentations on Minnesota’s general fund budget and forecast process, total school revenue, state aid, and school property taxes. Co-Chair Kresha mentioned there will be a deep dive into the fund shifts from MDE to the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
House Education Policy
The House Ed Policy Committee boasted a lengthy list of testifiers, all eager to share their issues and legislative concerns. School officials, teachers, superintendents, and principals from all over the state shared their firsthand knowledge regarding school struggles and the need for relief. Jeff Drake, MREA Board Member and Superintendent of Fergus Falls Public Schools, delivered powerful testimony to the committee. He addressed the complicated impacts state mandated Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) will have on local collective bargaining, especially as schools try to maintain consistent staffing for proper student experience, in addition to underfunded unemployment insurance policies are having on rural districts. Drake offered several solutions to the committee to address these growing issues. Extending the short call substitute pilot, greater flexibility to use student support personnel aid, and perhaps allowing the cooperative portion of the aid to remain with the host district if the cooperative isn’t able to use the funding.
Other high priority issues brought up by testifiers included lack of funding, teachers resigning on the cusp of the school year, UI, budget shortfalls, concerns with Paid Family Medical Leave and its tax impact on employees, the ineffectiveness of non-exclusionary disciplinary policies and strong desire to amend them, and the inability to keep up with the seemingly never-ending new mandates for the Read Act.
After hearing those local education perspectives, Co-Chair Bennett (R-Albert Lea) presented HF6 to the committee. HF6 makes significant modifications to the READ Act. The proposed changes would allow districts to implement innovative programs without approval from the commissioner, allow districts to transfer funds among accounts and funds, and allow districts to opt out of complying with specific laws enacted in 2023 and 2024. Rep. Mueller (R-Austin) stated that the READ Act is over-regulated and underfunded, and we must prepare teachers better.
Senate Education Finance
On Tuesday, the MN State Demographer gave the committee a presentation on the future student population in Minnesota. The student-aged population in Minnesota was just shy of 1 million as of the 2023 census. Reports show, with lower birth rates and a migration of young people out of Minnesota, that number is declining.
On Wednesday, committee members heard presentations from Senate analysts on the school funding formula and the differences between districts. The SPED cross subsidy garnered some attention and sparked a lengthy discussion amongst members about the general education funding formula and disparities between districts. Senators on both sides spoke about the “broken formula”, some noting that the unprecedented funding from 2023 is not making its way down to the districts outside of the metro. Sen. Michael Kruen (R-Blaine) pointed out that fixing the formula will be a lengthy task, though important. He proposed that equalization may be a more achievable priority in the meantime.
Senate Education Policy
Mirroring the House Ed Policy hearing, the Senate Ed Policy committee invited local education voices to come share their concerns. Over 14 school administrators, principals, superintendents and principals testified. Testimonies were equally as loud and powerful in the Senate as they were in the House. Legislators expressed gratitude for the open conversations and the ability to hear about the real life issues the school districts are facing. Supt. Jeff Drake presented his effectual testimony once more, shedding light on the issues facing many MREA member districts.
Sen. Maye Quade (DFL-Apple Valley) presented SF334 to the committee, a bill to modify the READ Act and reduce the instructional hours to allow for additional professional development. Maye Quade promised more bills will come this session to continue tweaking the READ Act. Sen. Duckworth (R-Lakeville) asked about alternative, less expensive curriculum options for the READ Act. He said teachers have expressed the want for additional options as soon as possible. In response, Bobbie Burnham, MDE Assistant Commissioner, assures that there are currently five highly aligned curriculums to choose from, and six partially aligned. They are currently in the talks with publishers reviewing additional curriculum. SF334 passed unanimously to be considered on the Senate floor.
The Week to Come
House Education Finance
The House Ed Finance committee will be hearing an agency budget overview from MDE.
House Education Policy
This week, House Ed Policy will hear from the Office of the Legislative Auditor who will brief the committee on a special review of MDE regarding the oversight of Feeding Our Future.
Senate Education Finance
Senate Ed Finance will hear updates from the schools involved in the absenteeism reduction pilot programs, and will hear directly from local school leaders about budget and policy challenges.
Senate Education Policy
This week, Senate Ed Policy will hear a presentation on Student Attendance and Truancy Legislative Study Group, as well as hear from the Minnesota Superintendent of the Year, Dr. Laurie Putnam and the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Tracy Byrd.
