Parent Leadership SummitApril 28, 2014

Parents United

A Minnesota born, parent-led organization that exists to unite those who value

public education, and help them be strong advocates for excellence in our public schools.

Parents United’s agenda

Our agenda is simple: • Parents United is a translator of complex

terms and policy implications • and a navigator for a legislative process often

oblique to the public.

Education is a constitutional mandate

Minnesota Constitution, Article 13, Section 1

…it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools.

The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.

From the Capitol to the Classroom

Minnesota’s Political Evolution House Senate Governor

82nd 2001-02 Republican DFL Reform

83rd

2003-04 Republican DFL Republican

84th

2005-06 Republican DFL Republican

85th

2007-08 DFL DFL Republican

86th

2009-10 DFL DFL Republican

87th

2011-12 Republican Republican DFL

88th

2013-14 DFL DFL DFL

The Evolution of Federal Involvement in education

• 50’s Integration• 60’s ESEA• 70’s Special education• 90’s School

Improvement

1983 A Nation at Risk

The Report recommendedStronger high school graduation requirementsHigher standards for academic and student

conductMore time devoted to instruction and

homeworkHigher standards for entry into the teaching

professionBetter salaries for teachers

There is no mention of…

Accountability More testing Educator evaluations based on test scores

Competition Grading schools A-F Vouchers, tax credits and scholarship programs to deal with

challenged students

Changing Governance Parent trigger laws Expansions of education management organizations

The Decade of NCLB

• Mandated each state develop – Academic Standards – Assessments

• Mandated state accountability systems• Required supplemental service providers• Defined remedies for students in schools not

meeting AYP Adequate Yearly Progress

Greater focus on State Academic Standards

Minnesota Academic standardsPre- and Post- NCLB

– Standards• Profile of Learning

– Process-based standards

– Begun in 80’s– Hands-on

assessments– Graduation Requirements

• Seat time• Basic Skills Test

– Standards• New Academic Standards

– Content-based – MDE developed and

legislated– Pen and paper

assessments– Graduation Requirements

• State standards testing • GRAD

Current Minnesota Standards and Assessments

• Process and content• Review and Revise cycle• Common Core Language Arts • Graduation Requirement

– Standardized testing grades 3 and up– Completion of standards imbedded in coursework– Completion of Suite of Assessments

(ACT/SAT/Accuplacer/Military exam)

Greater focus on school choice

• Open enrollment• Home school• PSEO• State-approved alternative programs• Charter schools• Online learning

Legislation on choice

• Selection of Charter Authorizers • Oversight of authorizers, home school

providers and charter board training• Perennial discussion on expansion of funding

– Vouchers– Tax credits

Greater focus on “state accountability systems”

Purpose of testing

• Diagnostic?• Provide a summative evaluation of

student or school performance?• Measure student proficiency or growth?

A moment on “value add”

So what do you value more proficiency or growth?

And what do you incent?

Purpose of MN NCLB waiverNCLBNo child Left Behind

Lake Wobegon Elementary

Proficiency how many

Graduation rate how many

MMRMultiple Measurement Rating

Lake Wobegon Elementary Proficiency how

manyGraduation rate how

manyGrowth who and

are they on track

Achievement Gap how fast

Greater focus on Teachers

• Compensation• Training• Licensing• Evaluation

On teacher compensation

QComp to ATTPS bonus vs. professional learning opportunities

Current: QComp districts in better position to implement comprehensive teacher evaluation;state trying to play funding catch up

On teacher training

• Jurisdiction over higher education

• Role of Board of Teaching

• Bush Foundation’s influence

On teacher licensure

• Minnesota Teacher Licensure Task force • Praxis conversion to Minnesota Teacher

Licensure Examinations (MTLE)

Current: in Limbo

On teacher evaluation

Staffing flexibility Mentorship

Current: Teacher evaluation

• First time in statute every continuing contract teacher formally evaluated once in 3 years

• State developed well-crafted default evaluation system to be used unless a local has its own

• 35% of evals need to be dependent on “student performance”

• Piloting

Greater Focus on Early Learning

• Universality to targeted• Philosophy meets resource• Reality hits home• Meanwhile……”3 to grade 3” takes hold

Greater focus on school funding

The purpose of school funding and

who should pay

Minnesota Supreme Court, Skeen v. State of Minnesota, August 20, 1993

…education is a fundamental right in Minnesota.

…our decision …requires the state to provide enough funds to ensure that each student receives an adequate education and that funds are distributed in a uniform manner…

…the determination of education finance policy, in the absence of glaring disparities, must be a legislative decision

Legal Requirements

Education Funding PrinciplesWhat is the State’s Role?

Ensure that the education funding system:

• Provides stable, predictable and sustainable revenues over time;

• Allocates resources through understandable statewide formulas that are rationally related to educational need

• Provides incentives and flexibility for local districts to increase achievement for all and close achievement gaps

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Education Funding PrinciplesWhat is the State’s Role?

Adequacy and Equity for Students:

• Ensure that all local districts have the resources needed to provide an adequate basic education for all students, regardless of geographic location:

– Basic formula covers the cost of providing an adequate basic education for students without special needs.

– Additional funding for excess costs:• high-need students • unique district characteristics

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Tax Reform in the 90’s

State policies reforming property tax Lowered taxes on commercial property Agricultural and recreational land removed from the equation

for school taxesThe 2001 General Education Buy Down The state picked up school costs once paid by local property

taxes Passed half of the legislation—the liability was accepted,

without a stated revenue stream to support it.

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Minnesota school districts respond

• 1990 47% of school districts in the state of Minnesota had levies in place

• By 2012 that number rose to 90%

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

1989 2012

# of schools withlevies

Structural change still needed

Instead of reinstating a general education levy

a higher income tax on top earners was passed

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Change in Pupil Weightingor How $5,382 + $80 becomes $5,806

Until 2015 Pupil units:

Kindergartners = .612 Grades 1-3 = 1.115 Grades 4-6 = 1.06

Grades 7-12 = 1.3

Per pupil formula $5,382

2015 and beyondPupil units:

K -6 = 1.00 Grades 7-12 = 1.2

Per pupil formula $5,806

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Focus on school climate

• Safe and Supportive Schools Act• LEAP English Language Learners as assets

Focus on State Structure

• Worlds Best Workforce• Regional Centers of

Excellence:– Rochester– St. Cloud– Mt. Iron– Fergus Falls– Marshall– Thief River Fall

What’s changed?

From initiatives to systems work

• World’s Best Workforce Statute• Centers of Excellence to network great ideas• Diagnostic State accountability system • Funding• School climate• Meaningful tests• Bilingualism as valued• Instructional improvement

Will learning be different?

State provides

• Broad Expectations• A lion’s share of resources• Suite of Assessments• MMR• High standards for teachers/principals• Data analysis of growth and trajectory• Facilitation of “what works” in like districts

State sets expectations

• All students ready for K• All third graders reading at grade-level• Close all academic achievement gaps• Graduate all students from high school• Have all high school graduates career and college

ready

District provides

• An E-12 approach• A plan developed in consultation with public• Review of results• Review of funds used for plan

What hasn’t been done

• Class size• Arts in education• Greater equity in policy and funding• More instructional time • Opportunities for each students along the

spectrum—transitional work• Universal early learning

On the horizon

• Common Core Standards• 2016 elections • National Opt Out movement • School to prison pipeline revolution• Differentiated learning in a centralized system

“The common core has drawn criticism from both the political left and right, though much of it seems aimed not so much at what the standards say, but rather who drove their adoption or the tests and accountability policies connected with them.”

Education Week

“Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that

it has to be us” Jerry Garcia

www.parentsunited.org

Remember

Information is the currency of democracy

Who pays for that information matters!Funding for Parents United

• 30% fee for service and grants for civic engagement

• 70% individuals

The Next Iteration?

“We carry them, then they carry us. It’s a pretty simple equation.”

Rep. Kathy Brynaert

Thank you for a lifetime of

Distinguished Leadership in

Education