After a short special session on Monday to address the budget impasse, the 2010 legislative session ended without passing a k-12 Education bill. The coalition supporting ALT CERT can certainly claim a moral victory as it became one of the few critical issues for both houses in the final days and hours of the session. Most importantly, hearts and minds were changed about what true alternative pathways to teaching can do to help close the achievement gap.
Daniel Sellers of the Twin Cities Teach for America and Kelly Wolfe, a TFA alum, did a remarkable job in letting the legislature know the facts regarding TFA and the rigor of the proposed bill. A great coalition has been formed. The fight to help Minnesota’s most underserved students continues.
Thanks to all.
11:00 am. Update. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the Governor just announced that because there were no real education reforms that passed the legislature this session, the state would not be reapplying for the $175 million in federal Race to the Top monies. See Star Trib article.
2:00 pm. Update. Ed Minn had its own press conference blasting the Governor for not submitting the RTTT package to the feds. Disingenuous is a word that comes to mind. Of course all know it was Tom Dooher and the teachers unions single-handedly killing such close-the-gap reforms as alternative teacher certification. Brazenly, Dooher now uses the reformers language by saying his proposals close the achievement gap. Dooher was right, however, in suggesting that Pawlenty had eight years to deal with the achievement gap. Yes, what might have been. MPR News Q.
Now Minnesota almost stands alone in its recalcitrance.
- Last week in Colorado, the state legislature passed one of the strongest education reform bills in the country, linking student achievement directly to teacher evaluations and allowing districts to rescind tenure from teachers after two “ineffective” evaluations.
- Last week in New York, the state education department joined with the statewide teachers union to advance key areas in the state’s Race to the Top application. The proposal would establish a comprehensive evaluation system for teachers and principals based on multiple measures, with student test scores accounting for up to 20 percent of the teacher evaluation.
- On March 29, 2010, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law a RTTT legislative package that improves the state’s lowest-performing schools to boost student achievement, sets better evaluation criteria for teachers and principals, and creates new opportunities for high-quality teacher preparation.
- In Kentucky, the education commissioner is calling on the legislature to repeal their ban on charter schools in their upcoming special session.
- Earlier this year the Massachusetts legislature passed a RTTT package that will double the number of charter school openings and provide superintendents with new intervention powers in the state’s most underperforming districts.