Topping Off the Week
Hearings. The education-finance committees are the only education-related committees meeting on Thursdays and today’s schedule was fairly light as the hearings were dedicated to providing background to members on education funding formulas and the work of the Minnesota Department of Education in both the funding and policy realms. The House Education Finance Committee spent time getting background on school nutrition in anticipation of discussion of HF 5–Representative Sydney Jordan’s “breakfast and lunch for all students” bill that passed out of the House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday. That bill is slated to be heard in the House Education Finance Committee next Wednesday, January 18.
Bill Introductions, Thursday, January 12.
Senate (House Not in Session Today)
SF 205–Removing PELSB’s Rulemaking Authority
sf 237–Appropriates Money for Small School Disability Access Projects
SF 239–Requires School Districts to Publish Certain Information on Consulting Fees
SF 242–Requires Online Personal Finance Course for High School Graduation
SF 286–Authorizes Lease Levy for Eastern Carver County School District Transportation Hub
Great to See Everyone at MSBA Leadership Conference! I had the opportunity to get over to the MSBA Leadership Conference this afternoon and it’s always great to see everyone–board members, administrators, vendors–and get a feel for what is happening throughout the state. I missed the Governor’s address to the assembled throng, but it sounds like it was upbeat and provided a rough outline of an aggressive set of proposals that should provide significant help to school districts. There will likely be suggestions–some of them fairly strong suggestions–as to how the money should be sent, but given the disruptions of the pandemic and the ripple effects in its aftermath, a strong investment in public education is more than welcome.
See you all next week!