Category: Education

by Dave Mindeman

There was a curious change in House Minority Committee assignments....

There were some surprises in the requests. Current Education Finance chair Pat Garofalo, of Farmington, was not picked for either of the education committees. Instead Garofalo was put forward as the minority lead on the Energy Policy committee.

Garofalo has been the Republican face of K-12 education in Minnesota. Controversial - yes. Outspoken - yes. Wealth of Policy knowledge - also yes.

Last session's education finance group:

Chair: Garofalo-R, Vice Chair: Kelly-R, DFL Lead: Greiling-DFL
Anderson, P.-R, Anzelc-DFL, Bills-R. Brynaert-DFL, Davnie-DFL
Dittrich-DFL, Downey-R, Erickson-R, Fabian-R, Loon-R
Mariani-DFL, Myhra-R, Petersen-R, Quam-R, Slocum-DFL
Ward-DFL, Woodard-R

The Republican Education Finance committee designates for 2013 looks like this (if proposals are accepted):

Republicans: Woodard, Green, Wills, Erickson, Hertaus, McDonald,
Myhra, Quam.

Only 4 GOPers are returning to the ed committee - Woodard, Erickson, Myhra, and Quam.

And an interesting choice in newcomers is Rep. Anna Wills. She has no experience in public education...in policy or in reality. She was home schooled.

It is hard to tell where the fireworks in the Ed Committee will come from. Without firebrand Garofalo, it could get pretty boring.

Democrats need to take charge here and put education back on a path to allow Minnesota to compete globally.

Garofalo can take his antics to the Energy Policy Committee...but I doubt he will disappear on education policy -- he can always hold court from the floor when the bills make it that far.

Still, it is curious that Garofalo is missing from the committee - makes you wonder if that was his personal choice...... or something else.

Category: Education

by Dave Mindeman

The odd twist on the abortion issue of last week almost led to some real clarity on the issue....almost.

The Todd Akin slip of the truth statement brought quick condemnation from a lot of Republican quarters. Not because they actually believe he is wrong, but rather that he threatened to give us a look behind the Republican curtain.

Full anti-abortion stances don't allow exceptions for rape. Todd Akin actually articulated that quite well but it pulled back the layers of confusion that Republicans have depended upon to muck up the issue enough so that they could pick up independent support.

In the case of rape, there is a victim (the woman), the perpetrator (the rapist), and a potential result (a pregnancy). Democratic thought is to side with the victim and let her decide what is best. But the GOP puts the victim into a secondary position. They give the power to the possible result.....the only part of the equation that is incapable of speaking, thinking, sentience, or even personhood (apologies to potential future amendments).

Republicans feel that they can determine what cannot be known. They speak for zygotes and fetuses. They make policy on what they believe to be true but cannot know.

The GOP has decided that women cannot be trusted to make decisions involving their own pregnancies....their own bodies. The problem, (at least to Republicans) is that women will decide via emotion and not with the pseudo-science that Republicans seem to rely upon.

And for some reason, the men (and I emphasize the word men) that sponsor bills affecting this situation leave the victim (the woman) out of the decision making equation.

Todd Akin's only sin is that he said what he really thinks. And the Todd Akin thought process is not alone. Paul Ryan sides with Akin. The Republican platform sides with Todd Akin. And if you believe that a potential President Mitt Romney has the guts to veto such an abortion bill if it comes to his desk, then you haven't been paying attention to how he has caved to social conservatives every time he has been confronted.

Todd Akin's only mistake, in this whole fiasco, is that he said it out loud.

Category: Education

by Dave Mindeman

Governor Dayton vetoed the Republican LIFO (Last In First Out) bill. The bill that would have taken out LIFO as a key bargaining position in teacher contract negotiations.

The GOP reaction?

"The governor has dealt a major blow to teachers, schools, students and parents across the state,? said the proposal's chief sponsor, Rep. Branden Petersen, R-Andover. Petersen and other supporters met with Dayton repeatedly to urge him to sign the bill. Petersen issued what he called a ?public apology? for Dayton's veto. ?I am sorry that Governor Dayton chose to side with big-labor special interests and sell out our children's futures."

I have had a few people argue with my position in support of LIFO, saying that this blocks emphasis on teacher evaluations that the public supports.

But EdMN leader,Tom Dooher, had the line that sums it up:

?The priority should have been making layoffs unnecessary."

Republicans have focused, not on properly funding education, but on how to make cutting funding more efficient.

If you keep starving the education system, you have to have a scapegoat. The teachers union is the easiest target. They have control of classroom and they are the biggest expense item on the education books.

If we fully invested in education then LIFO wouldn't be a factor in budgeting. We could keep most of the teachers that are hired. School districts generally hire teachers because they are needed, not to create heavier expense numbers. If we need them, then we should properly fund the district to keep what is necessary.

The Republican legislature, led by Chair Pat Garofalo, have convinced us that funding cuts is now a fact of life. It is what we have to do in education. And, to him, teachers are the biggest problem. They just demand too much.

Do you know any rich K-12 teachers? I am not talking about college professors or administrators. I mean the people in the actual classrooms. Handling 30 some kids. Dealing with supply issues. Working with old technology. Buildings that are crumbling. The ones who buy supplies themselves. The ones who work "off the clock" at school events and clubs. The ones who stay after school to help a kid with understanding math or geography or writing. Those are the ones I'm talking about. How many of them are punching gaping holes in school budgets because of high salaries? I'm guessing none of them.

Yes, we can talk about teaching evaluation. Yes, Governor Dayton has been involved in getting that in place. But before we erase bargaining tools for the core employees in our schools and force salary levels down and lower quality over time, let's give the ideas in place a chance to work.

The priority should be to make layoffs unnecesary. That should be our goal. We need more teachers not less. We need to upgrade technology. We need to innovate with minority education. We need to listen to the people who are closest to the kids....the teachers.

The legacy of Republican (and some Democratic) ideas in education are onerous.

Cutting budgets are the norm. School shifts are a target for budget shortfalls. Teachers are supposed to have less bargaining tools. And the pressure on education funding sources, namely property taxes, is increased by LGA cuts.

Education is the key to our future growth. That is not just some slogan...it is an undeniable fact. Business depends on education for its work force and for its innovations leading to increased productivity. Business should be persuaded to increase its investments in education. The state should increase its investments in education.

It is time to refute GOP talking points on all aspects of this.

Fully fund. Upgrade technology. No more layoffs. That's the ticket.

Do it.