Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Light Schedule Today. The only two hearings of pertinance to the education community at the Capitol today were held in the House of Representatives, where both the House K-12 Education Policy Committee and the House K-12 Funding Division met. The House K-12 Policy Committee took testimony from education groups on their policy goals for the 2009 Session. The House K-12 Funding Division took testimony from the Minnesota Department of Education on their priorities for the coming session. A lot of very good information, but more in the vein of outlining the parameters of the discussion that will take place this year as opposed to anything substantive. That's going to change a lot next week when the Governors budget was announced.

Interesting Proposal. Former Minnesota Revenue Commissioner (and Independence Party Candidate for Attorney General in 2006) John James sent me a comprehensive state budget proposal he has developed and I must say it looks very interesting. It's about 60 pages long and contains some interesting proposals for the funding of education, much of it in the same vein as what is proposed by PS Minnesota. I hope to either post the document on the SEE web page or provide all of you with a copy.

John James is one of the brighter policy minds in the state and anything he develops is worth studying closely.

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