1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; working to ensure children's 
  1.3             reading competency by the end of third grade; 
  1.4             providing grants to assist with reading competency; 
  1.5             appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 120B.  
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [120B.12] [READING COMPETENCY; GRANTS.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [LITERACY GOAL.] The legislature seeks to 
  1.10  have Minnesota's children able to read by the end of the third 
  1.11  grade as measured by the Minnesota comprehensive assessment and 
  1.12  other general outcome measures. 
  1.13     Subd. 2.  [DEFINITION.] For purposes of this section, a 
  1.14  "district" may be a local school district, an intermediate 
  1.15  district, or an education district.  
  1.16     Subd. 3.  [GRANT RECIPIENTS; CRITERIA.] The commissioner 
  1.17  may award up to three grants to assist charter schools and sites 
  1.18  in district-operated schools to achieve the goal of reading 
  1.19  competency by the end of third grade.  One grant recipient must 
  1.20  be the St. Croix river education district.  Grant recipients 
  1.21  must have: 
  1.22     (1) expertise in early literacy and the teaching of reading 
  1.23  or mathematics; 
  1.24     (2) research-based evidence that the strategies recommended 
  1.25  by the grant recipient has improved student performance in 
  1.26  reading; 
  2.1      (3) a measurement system for teachers to use that includes 
  2.2   an individual student test that is reliable, easy to use, and 
  2.3   requires minimal time; and 
  2.4      (4) an accountability structure for the results of the 
  2.5   grant recipient's work.  
  2.6      Subd. 4.  [GRANT REQUIREMENTS.] (a) Grant recipients also 
  2.7   must meet the requirements of this subdivision.  
  2.8      (b) Grant recipients must collaborate with the commissioner 
  2.9   in informing district-operated schools and charter schools about 
  2.10  available assistance with reading competency.  In awarding 
  2.11  grants, the commissioner may give highest priority to those 
  2.12  sites and charter schools in greatest need of assistance based 
  2.13  on the annual yearly progress reports. 
  2.14     (c) A district that is a grant recipient must assist a 
  2.15  minimum of 50 sites, at least 30 of which must have at least 25 
  2.16  percent enrolled students in kindergarten through grade 3 
  2.17  eligible for free or reduced price lunch. 
  2.18     (d) Grant recipients must consult with preschool programs 
  2.19  including early childhood family education, learning readiness, 
  2.20  Head Start, child care centers, and other programs to ensure 
  2.21  that staff at these programs possess skills that are 
  2.22  research-based predictors of literacy. 
  2.23     (e) Grant recipients must reach an agreement with a site on 
  2.24  the reading results the site will achieve over a three school 
  2.25  year period and on the assistance with reading competency the 
  2.26  grant recipient will provide.  The site council and the teachers 
  2.27  at the site must consent to the agreement. 
  2.28     (f) The agreement must include the timeline for a baseline 
  2.29  measurement of each student, the frequency that individual 
  2.30  student performance is measured, and the manner of reporting 
  2.31  data to the site and the district board. 
  2.32     (g) The agreement also must indicate the estimated amount 
  2.33  of grant funds the district will provide to the site, including 
  2.34  funds allocated for site planning and collecting student 
  2.35  performance data, and the amount of revenue the site will 
  2.36  contribute.  The agreement must provide that if the district 
  3.1   fails to perform the provisions of the agreement, the 
  3.2   commissioner will award the site the remaining funds for the 
  3.3   site under the agreement, which the site may use for contracting 
  3.4   with a different reading vendor.  
  3.5      (h) The agreement must define the site's responsibilities.  
  3.6   If the site does not fulfill its responsibilities, the district 
  3.7   may discontinue its services to that site, inform the site of 
  3.8   the reason for terminating the agreement, and indicate the 
  3.9   funding amount expended for that site. 
  3.10     Subd. 5.  [REPORT.] Grant recipients annually must report 
  3.11  to the commissioner on the results achieved at each site.  The 
  3.12  report must include: 
  3.13     (1) demographic information about the students at the site; 
  3.14     (2) the service provided to the site; 
  3.15     (3) student performance data for fall, winter, and spring, 
  3.16  although all sites may not have fall student performance data in 
  3.17  the first year of the program; and 
  3.18     (4) the amount of grant funding expended for the site. 
  3.19     Subd. 6.  [APPLICATION PROCESS.] The commissioner shall 
  3.20  award the grant to the St. Croix river education district by 
  3.21  July 1, 2001.  The commissioner must award the remaining grants 
  3.22  no later than October 1, 2001. 
  3.23     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective July 1, 2001. 
  3.24     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.25     $2,000,000 in fiscal year 2002 and $2,000,000 in fiscal 
  3.26  year 2003 are appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.27  commissioner of children, families, and learning for grants 
  3.28  under section 1.  Of this amount, $1,000,000 each year must be 
  3.29  allocated to the St. Croix river education district.  Funding 
  3.30  appropriated for fiscal year 2002 does not cancel and is 
  3.31  available in fiscal year 2003.  
  3.32     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective July 1, 2001.