STATE OF MINNESOTA THIRTY FIRST MEETING
MN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINETY SECOND SESSION
EDUCATION FINANCE
MINUTES
Representative Jim Davnie, Chair of the Education Finance Committee, called the virtual meeting to order at 10:31am on March 24, 2021 pursuant to House rule 10.01. The meeting is being broadcast via Zoom and House Public Information Services.
The Committee Legislative Assistant noted the roll.
Members present:
DAVNIE, Jim
SANDSTEDE, Julie
KRESHA, Ron
BENNETT, Peggy
DANIELS, Brian
DEMUTH, Lisa
DRAZKOWSKI, Steve
ERICKSON, Sondra
FEIST, Sandra
JORDAN, Sydney
MARQUART, Paul
MUELLER, Patricia
RICHARDSON, Ruth
THOMPSON, John
WOLGAMOTT, Dan
XIONG, Tou
YOUAKIM, Cheryl
A quorum was present.
Rep. Jordan moved that the minutes from March 18, 2021 be approved. Motion prevailed.
HF 709 (Sandell) HF 709 appropriates $250,000 each year, beginning in fiscal year 2022, for a grant to the Minnesota Council on Economic Education. Requires the council to: (1) provide professional development to Minnesota’s teachers implementing state graduation standards in learning areas related to economic education; (2) support economic and personal finance programs that teachers supervise and coach; and (3) provide support to higher education-based centers for economic education, including those based at Minnesota State university Mankato, Minnesota State University Moorhead, St. Cloud State University, St. Catherine University, and the University of St. Thomas, to support activities in clauses (1) and (2). Requires the council to report, by February 15 of each year following the receipt of a grant, to the commissioner of education on the number and type of teacher professional development opportunities provided by the council and the affiliated state centers for economic education.
Rep. Xiong moved that HF 709 be presented before the committee; be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Rep. Sandell presented HF 709.
Rep. Xiong renewed the motion that HF 709 be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
HF 1169 (Sandstede) HF 1169 authorizes a grant of $75,000 to a nonprofit organization called the Rock ‘n’ Read Project. Requires the grant to be used to implement a research-supported, computer-based educational program that uses singing to improve the reading ability of students in grades 2 through 5. To the extent practicable, requires Rock ‘n’ Read to select participating schools in urban, suburban, and greater Minnesota, and give priority to schools in which a high proportion of students are not reading proficiently at grade level and are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Requires Rock ‘n’ Read to submit a report to the commissioner of education and the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over education policy and finance by February 15, 2023, detailing program expenditures and outcomes of the grant activities.
Rep. Sandstede moved that HF 1169 be presented before the committee; be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Rep. Sandstede presented HF 1169.
Rep. Sandstede renewed the motion that HF 1169 be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
HF 681 (Frederick) Minnesota has a number of children’s museums. The base budget for K12 education includes $460,000 per year in funding for some of these museums, including $269,000 for the Minnesota Children’s Museum in St. Paul, $50,000 for the Minnesota Children’s Museum in Rochester, $50,000 for the Duluth Children’s Museum, $41,000 for the Minnesota Academy of Science, and $50,000 for the Headwaters Science Center in Grand Rapids. Some children’s museums also receive funding from the state’s legacy fund. HF 891 appropriates $50,000 a year for a grant to the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, located in Mankato.
Rep. Jordan moved that HF 681 be presented before the committee; be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Rep. Davnie moved that the DE1 amendment to HF 681 be presented to and adopted by the committee. A voice vote was taken. Motion prevailed and the amendment was adopted.
Rep. Frederick presented HF 681, as amended.
Rep. Jordan renewed the motion that HF 681, as amended, be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
HF 1144 (Feist) Compensatory revenue is the state’s primary formula designed to provide additional funding to school districts serving students from low socioeconomic status. Minnesota’s compensatory formula is based on each school site’s free and reduced lunch count, which serves as a proxy for the number of students in need of additional educational assistance. Compensatory revenue is site-based revenue. The revenue is calculated based on the characteristics of each school site, and the revenue is initially designated to be spent on qualifying programs at each site. Under current law, a school board may adopt a resolution to reallocate up to 50 percent of the revenue for eligible uses across the district. Compensatory revenue must be used to meet the educational needs of pupils whose progress toward meeting state or local content or performance standards is below the level that is appropriate for learners of their age. Compensatory revenue is a concentration formula based on each school building’s count of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The formula is often referred to as a concentration formula because as the concentration of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals increases, the compensatory revenue per compensatory pupil also increases. Under current law, the concentration level does not increase once 80 percent of the students at the school site are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. For the 2020-2021 school year, compensatory revenue is expected to total about $542 million. This amount is expected to drop about $465 million for the 2021-2022 school year. HF 1144 removed the 80 percent limit on concentration, increases the percentage of compensatory revenue that must remain at each school site from 50 to 80 percent, and requires compensatory revenue to be used for evidence-based programs.
Rep. Feist moved that HF 1144 be presented before the committee; be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Rep. Feist moved that the A2 amendment to HF 1144 be presented to and adopted by the committee. A voice vote was taken. Motion prevailed and the amendment was adopted.
Rep. Feist presented HF 1144, as amended.
Rep. Feist renewed the motion that HF 1144, as amended, be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Testifiers:
Dr. Julie Bunn, Executive Director, MN Council on Economic Education
Brandy Siddiqui, Teacher, Edison High School, Minneapolis
Ann Kay, Co-Founder & Education Coordinator, The Rock ‘n’ Read Project
Louise Dickmeyer, CEO, Children’s Museum of Southern MN
Jill Measells, CEO, The Works Museum
Paula Cole, Executive Director, Educators for Excellence (E4E-MN)
Lucilla Davila, Folwell School, Performing Arts Magnet
Bolu Ilelaboye, Youth Council Member, DeLaSalle High School
Matt Shaver, Policy Director, Ed Allies
Benjamin Mackenzie, Teacher, Hiawatha Academies
Scott Croonquist, Executive Director, Association of Metropolitan School Districts
Luisa Trapeiro, Former School Board Member, St. James
The meeting of the Education Finance Committee was recessed at 11:56am until approximately 6:00pm or the call of the Chair.
Chair Davnie resumed the meeting of the Education Finance Committee at 6:02pm.
HF 1530 (Lee) Adult basic education (ABE) programs provide academic instruction to adults and older teenagers who have not finished high school. The purpose of ABE instruction is to enable an ABE student to obtain a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. A district or an organization offering an ABE program may charge a sliding fee to program participants. ABE funding is distributed to local fiscal hosts (generally school districts) who often work in concert with other school districts and non-school literacy partners. The ABE formula is based on contact hours, population, the enrollment of English learners, and the number of adults age 25 or older with no diploma residing in a district. The statewide ABE appropriation (currently about $50 million) annually grows by the rate of growth in the number of statewide contact hours (hours of instruction), but is limited to a growth rate of not more than 3 percent per year. For the last several years, the statewide number of contact hours has not grown. HF 1530 increases the base funding level to $51 million for fiscal year 2022 and modifies the growth factor to be the greater of the annual growth in statewide contact hours or the growth in the general education basic formula allowance.
Rep. Sandstede moved that HF 1530 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Rep. Lee presented HF 1530.
Rep. Sandstede renewed the motion that HF 1530 be laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
HF 1710 (Rep. Wolgamott) Minnesota’s public libraries are generally operated by cities or counties and are primarily funded through local property taxes. The 12 regional public library systems are joint powers agreements among cities and counties that cooperate to provide shared and reciprocal library services broadening access to public library services and resources within each region and statewide. The regional library systems receive state funding through the K12 education budget. The current regional library system basic aid formula allocates funding as follows:
• 57.5 percent of the funding is allocated among the regions based on population;
• 12.5 percent of the funding is allocated among the regions based on their geographic size;
• 5 percent of the money is allocated evenly to each regional system; and
• 25 percent of the money is allocated across the regions based on tax base.
HF 1710 increases the appropriation for Minnesota’s regional public library system by $2 million per year, lowers the aid distribution based on tax base by 10 percentage points, and increases the aid evenly allocated among each of the systems by the same percentage.
Rep. Wolgamott moved that HF 1710 be presented before the committee; be laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Rep. Wolgamott moved that the A1 amendment to HF 1710 be presented to and adopted by the committee. A voice vote was taken. Motion prevailed and the amendment was adopted.
Rep. Wolgamott presented HF 1710, as amended.
Rep. Wolgamott renewed the motion that HF 1710, as amended, be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
HF 1997 (Agbaje) Girls in Action is a program that seeks to motivate, mentor, empower, engage, and educate girls from underserved communities. HF 1997 appropriates $1,500,000 to sustain and expand Girls in Action programs in Minnesota.
Rep. Feist moved that HF 1997 be presented before the committee; be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Rep. Agbaje presented HF 1997.
Rep. Feist renewed the motion that HF 1997 be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Presentation on the Governor’s Supplemental Budget Recommendations provided by the Minnesota Department of Education.
HF 1081 (Richardson) This is the kindergarten through 12th grade education policy bill. It amends provisions relating to graduation standards, academic standards, American Indian education, student discipline, teacher licensure, charter schools, school meals, and student mental health, among others.
**This bill was given an informational hearing in committee on Wednesday, March 17th where it was discussed at length. Action is being taken now that it is formally in the possession of the committee.**
Rep. Richardson moved that HF 1081 be laid over for further consideration and possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
Testifiers:
Karen Wolters, Adult Basic Education (ABE) Program Coordinator – Mankato Area Public
Schools; Literacy Action Network
Kaija Bergen, Representative, #IamABE
Renada Rutmanis, ABE Supervisor, St. Paul Public Schools; MCEA
Karen Pundsack, Executive Director, Great River Regional Library
Dr. Zurya Anjum, Stearns County Citizen Representative, Great River Regional Library Board
of Trustees
Aja Burnside, Girls Taking Action Alumnus
Adosh Unni, Director of Government Relations, MN Department of Education
The meeting of the Education Finance Committee was adjourned 6:45pm.
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Representative Jim Davnie, Chair
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Brittney Sunderland, Committee Legislative Assistant