Advocacy Will Be Vital During 2019 Legislative Session

As you may know, the 2019 legislative session begins on Tuesday, January 8^th at noon. One of the most important aspects of the coming session is that state funding for the next two school years will be determined. With that thought in mind, I want to present the 2019 MASA Legislative Platform.

On November 15^th about 40 of our members convened and crafted the platform draft. On December 5^th the MASA Board of Directors approved the platform. The following areas will be the focus of our legislative efforts. Please keep in mind that we will also be involved in any issue/topic that has an impact on E-12 public school education.

Minnesota Association of School Administrators 2019 Platform

 Funding

A fair and fully funded quality educational system is vital to Minnesota’s prosperity in the 21^st century. Therefore, the state must:

• General Education Formula Increase – Increase the general education basic formula by 3% in each year of the biennium and index future annual general education basic formula increases by at least the inflationary rate (Implicit Price Deflator).
• Special Education Cross Subsidy – Implement a plan to fully fund the special education cross subsidy.
• Renewal of Existing Levies – Allow school board renewal of all existing operating levies.
• Safe School Revenue – Provide a permanent increase in safe schools revenue to reflect the critical needs identified by school districts.
• Concurrent Enrollment Teachers: Provide resources to establish additional programs focused on helping eligible teachers to attain the requisite graduate credits necessary to teach school courses for postsecondary credit.

Policy

Educational policy issues impact every district’s ability to provide a high quality education system, develop the world’s best work force, and ensure all students acquire 21^st century skills.   As a result, state education policy changes must:

• School Board Authority – Provide all public school boards the flexibility to determine district educational decisions including graduation requirements.
• Legislative Mandates – Refrain from new, underfunded or unfunded legislative mandates.
• Open Enrollment Student Transportation – Align statutes so that transportation requirements are the same for all students including those who are open-enrolled.
• Special Education Efficiency – Modify state special education requirements to achieve maximum efficiencies and reduce costs.

Your involvement in the session will be vitally important. Whether it is visiting the Capitol, responding to an ACTION ALERT, or interacting with your elected officials in your community your voice must be heard. Be sure to visit www.mnasa.org/atthecapitol for all of MASA’s legislative resources.

Thank you in advance for what you will do this upcoming session to advocate for the MASA legislative priorities. As always, please contact me at 651.319.1211 if I can be of service.