parent leadership summit april 28, 2014
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Parent Leadership Summit April 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 : - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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
33
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.
35
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
38
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