Scary Moment at the State of the State.  Governor Dayton collapsed from dehydration near the end of his State of the State speech tonight.  Before the speech prematurely ended at about the 45-minute mark, the Governor laid out his top priorities for the coming session.  Included in these priorities is a 2% increase in each year of the biennium on the general education basic formula and an unspecified commitment to expanding access to early childhood education.  It was great to see Marshall superintendent Scott Monson and his early childhood team present at the speech to receive recognition from the Governor for the district's commitment to providing greater access for pre-kindergarten learners.

Other items mentioned by the Governor included a fix for health insurance premium sites, increased funding for higher education, long-term resources to invest in our transportation system, and a substantial bonding bill.  Some of these items will obviously clash with the Legislature's vision and it will be interesting to see how these inevitable confrontations play out.

Monday Hearing.  The Senate E-12 Finance Committee spent today's committee time on programs that aim to assure students are reading by the end of third grade.  Testimony was also taken from groups that represent students with dyslexia and ServeMinnesota/Reading Corps.  It was a very interesting hearing with lots of data presented showing what works in pursuit of the state's reading goals.

Here is a link to the materials presented at the hearing.

Senate E-12 Finance Committee--Monday, January 23, 2017, Hearing

BILL INTRODUCTIONS

House

HF 386-Kresha-Increase and Expansion of Education Tax Credit and Tax Law Changes for Businesses Providing Scholarships

HF 387-Knoblach-Increasing and Expanding Minnesota Education Tax Credit and Deduction

HF 388-Kresha-Providing a Credit for Donations to Fund Prekindergarten Education Programs

HF 408-Metsa-Modifies Expenditures from Iron Range School Consolidation Account

HF 417-Schomaker-Establishes Rural Career and Technical Education Consortium

HF 428-Fischer-Appropriates Money for Teacher Development and Evaluation Revenue 

HF 429-Fischer-Appropriates Money for a Research-supported Computer-based Educational Program that Uses Singing to Improve Reading Ability

Senate

SF 256-Chamberlain-Increase and Expansion of Education Tax Credit and Tax Law Changes for Businesses Providing Scholarships

SF 264-Franzen-Encourages School Districts to Implement Certain STEM Educational Programming with Grant Funding

SF 305-Utke-Grant for Minnesota Principals Academy

SF 310-Weber-Establishes Rural Career and Technical Education Consortium

SF 312-Weber-Exempts Hendricks School District from the General Reciprocity Agreement

You can see from today's introductions that it was a big day for bills relating to increasing tax deductions relating to tuition and contributions to scholarships to private schools along with an increase and expansion of Minnesota's education tax credit to make tuition payments to private schools eligible for reimbursement under the program.  It is School Choice Week in Minnesota and all of these bills will be heard tomorrow in both the House and the Senate.  Could be a long day with a lot of testimony.