Education policy bill tackles teacher shortages, student health

More post-secondary eligibility options for charter school students, permanently adding a substitute teacher pilot program and an expansion of allowable epinephrine delivery systems have all made it into the omnibus education policy bill.

The House Education Policy Committee received a walkthrough of a delete-all amendment to HF1306 Tuesday. The committee plans to review amendments and act on the bill Wednesday.

“I think both sides of the aisle can really see their work reflected in this bill. It’s a good little education policy bill,” said Rep. Sydney Jordan (DFL-Mpls), the bill sponsor.

Adosh Unni, director of government relations for the Department of Education, said a lot of Gov. Tim Walz’s education proposals were incorporated into the bill. However, he said, the department would like to see more including charter school transparency and accountability, allowing tribal schools to be eligible for state grants and anti-bullying statutes.

(House Photography file photo)

“The provisions we put forward this year demonstrate our agency responsibility to statutory integrity and make clear that accountability matters for all of our public schools,” he said.

More substitute teachers

To create opportunities for more substitute teachers, the bill would make the short-call emergency substitute teacher pilot program permanent. It allows qualifying education support personnel or paraprofessionals to obtain a short-call substitute teacher license.

The bill would also allow a substitute teacher to work for 10 consecutive school days in the same assignment and modify requirements to substitute teacher rate of pay.

Epinephrine inhalers

To keep up with changing health technology, the bill would expand the allowable delivery systems for epinephrine in schools from only autoinjectors to include other delivery systems, such as inhalers. It would also require the Health Department to provide a school with a standing order for distribution of epinephrine delivery systems.

“The work that we do and the changes that we’re making here will save lives, and I think that that’s really powerful,” said Rep. Heather Keeler (DFL-Moorhead).

Inspector general modifications

Several provisions would be modified relating to the Office of the Inspector General, including the addition of theft prevention and detection to its purpose and duties.

It would also provide immunity for whistleblowers making a good faith report or participating in an investigation and require the inspector general to recommend to the commissioner to withhold, not directly withhold, payments to a participant in any department program if there is a credible allegation of fraud or theft.

“Since the initial creation of the MDE OIG in 2023, we worked together with the Legislature to enhance and clarify authority, and this continued partnership is critical to upholding program integrity and preventing fraud,” Unni said.

The bill would also:

• open the post-secondary enrollment options to charter school students;
• require the Education Department to report language development outcomes of the target language of instruction other than English for all students in dual immersion programs, and;
• allow a school board to adopt a Pathways in Technology Early College High School program without department approval. And the department would be prohibited from approving or denying a locally adopted P-TECH plan.

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The following are selected bills that have been incorporated in part or in whole into the omnibus education policy bill:

• HF630 (Mueller)
• HF1171 (Rehrauer)
• HF1306 (Jordan)
• HF1418 (Hill)
• HF1435 (Bakeberg)
• HF1607 (Clardy)
• HF2489 (Virnig)