Providing for the financing of early childhood, adult, family and kindergarten through grade 12 education programs and services

ARTICLE 1 - GENERAL EDUCATION

Defining kindergarten for general education purposes; modifying and clarifying the formula for determination of the required area learning center programs reserved revenue amount; increasing nonpublic pupil and nonpublic pupil transportation aids and removing the linkage to the general education basic revenue formula allowance; providing for school district recognition of taconite revenue; expanding building expenditures reporting requirements, removing the exclusion of capital expenditures and pupil transportation from separate accounts maintenance requirements; changing the name of school district general fund accounts from undesignated fund balance to unreserved general fund balance for funds transfer and operating debt calculation purposes, defining unreserved general fund balance; expanding the definition of transportation services for pupils with disabilities for transportation aid entitlement purposes; requiring school districts to report the salaries and fringe benefits of certain school district employees and pupil transportation expenditures; modifying certain graduation incentive program enrollment verification requirements, excluding compensatory revenue from the reduction requirement for part time students; clarifying the formula for aid for alternative programs provided under contract; providing transportation for homeless pupils; providing for project based average daily membership; expanding the components of the general education revenue formula to gifted and talented and alternative compensation revenues and providing formulas for the added components; increasing the basic revenue formula allowance; modifying the compensatory education revenue formula; defining sparsity allowance for elementary and secondary and transportation sparsity revenue determination purposes; modifying the total operating capital revenue and levy formulas; expanding the equity revenue formula; making permanent and increasing the transition revenue formula; updating the formula for general education aid; authorizing school districts to allocate a certain percentage of compensatory revenue to support prekindergarten programs; modifying the calculation of the referendum allowance limit; increasing the first tier referendum equalization allowance formula and the maximum amount of referendum equalization aid; simplifying the language on referendum revenue ballots; modifying the referendum conversion allowance and certain school district general education aid taconite deduction and aid recognition and payment requirements; increasing the building lease levy formula and authorizing school districts to use the levy to lease administrative space under certain conditions; authorizing school districts to levy for the full amount of unemployment insurance and judgment costs; increasing the safe schools levy and authorizing use to pay the costs of school counselor salaries and benefits; requiring and providing for reverse referenda for district deferred maintenance revenue; accelerating the date for annual notice to the commissioner of final certified levies; providing for the payment of telecommunications/internet access equity and shared time aids; modifying the abatement adjustment formula and phasing out the adjustment for changes in employer teachers retirement association (TRA) contribution rates; modifying the census requirement for school districts; modifying the distribution of excess taxes on captured net tax capacity of tax increment financing (TIF) districts to school districts; continuing the suspension of the requirement for school districts to reserve a certain percentage of general education basic revenue for staff development; authorizing the reporting of certain four or five year olds as kindergarten pupils; authorizing an additional levy amount for taxes payable in 2006 for the addition of certain prekindergarten program costs to district transition revenue; providing for an alternative compensation revenue guarantee; authorizing school districts to levy for the replacement of defective Carpenter school buses; creating a pilot program to allow school districts to allocate compensatory revenue among school sites according to the student performance measures; making the fiscal year 2006 adjustment for increases in operating capital and equity revenue payable entirely in state aid; providing fiscal year 2006 compensatory revenue for certain refugees; appropriating money to the commissioner for general education, referendum tax base replacement and abatement aids, for enrollment options transportation, for consolidating districts, for nonpublic pupil education and transportation aids, for grants to independent school districts #690, Warroad to operate the Angle Inlet school and to #241, Albert Lea, #2711, Mesabi East and #682, Roseau for declining pupil aid and to #11, Anoka-Hennepin for participation in the compensatory revenue pilot project; repealing the minimum number of teachers required for participation in the alternative compensation program, certain obsolete statutory operating debt reduction and levy requirements and the requirement for school districts to reserve a certain amount of learning and development revenue for class size reduction

ARTICLE 2 - EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

Defining continuing truant and habitual truant for educational data classification and access purposes and clarifying the requirement for school officials to disclose student attendance records to the juvenile justice system upon request, authorizing disclosure of only continuing or habitual truancy status under certain conditions; authorizing school districts to include in school attendance policies the requirement for parents or legal guardians to verify reasons for child absences and specifying certain authorized reasons; modifying certain test requirements for students enrolled in grade 8; requiring school districts to maintain the existing required academic standards relating to instruction in health and physical education; providing for waiver of certain academic standards for students participating in certain rigorous courses of study; specifying the number of required course credits for physical and health education and reducing the number of elective course credits required for graduation; updating the definitions of instruction and curriculum; clarifying certain school board instruction and curriculum policy adoption and advisory committee establishment requirements and authorizing web site publication of annual student achievement reports; authorizing school districts and charter schools to elect to participate in the educational planning and assessment system (EPAS) program offered by ACT, Inc. to provide a longitudinal systematic approach to student educational and career planning, assessment, instructional support and evaluation, requiring the commissioner of education to provide certain ACT tests for students in certain grades; modifying certain provisions relating to advanced placement and international baccalaureate programs, authorizing the commissioner to pay for out of state travel costs for teachers participating in training programs and for all examination fees for public and nonpublic students from low income families, requiring payment for a portion or all of the examination fees for other public and nonpublic students based on the available appropriation, requiring the Minnesota state colleges and universities (MnSCU) and encouraging the university of Minnesota and private post-secondary institutions to award college credit to high school students receiving certain scores on the AP or IB program examinations; specifying the structure of the college level examination program offered by the college board, requiring schools to provide information about CLEP and the opportunity to receive college credit from a state post-secondary institution by students successfully completing college level courses and authorizing reimbursement of examination fees for students successfully completing the courses in high school, specifying certain duties of the commissioner; providing for student participation in gifted and talented programs; encouraging school districts to offer instruction on character development education and providing for American heritage education, enacting the "American Heritage Education in Minnesota Public Schools Act"; requiring and providing for the commissioner to implement a value added assessment program to assist school districts and schools in assessing and reporting growth in student academic achievement; authorizing the inclusion of violence prevention and character development education programs in the model policy of the commissioner relating to sexual, religious and racial harassment and violence; requiring electronic reporting by school districts of dangerous weapons incidents and of student exclusions or expulsions; requiring school districts to obtain informed consent from parents or guardians before administering student surveys, assessments, analyses, evaluations or similar instruments relating to certain social, relationship or religious practices or beliefs, to mental or psychological problems or to income, requirements; authorizing schools to use completion of a character education program as a requirement for readmission after student exclusion or expulsion; requiring school district student discipline policies to use character development or other programs to emphasize preventing student dismissals; creating alternatives to student suspension; providing for effective reading instruction; requiring the board of teaching to adopt licensure rules to for qualified candidates to teach chemistry, physics, biology and earth and space science; authorizing the board of school administrators to reimburse local school districts for the cost of teachers employed to substitute for regular teachers serving on the board; expanding reading strategies requirements for teacher preparation programs; modifying teacher tenure in first class cities, authorizing negotiation of a plan for teacher layoffs in lieu of layoffs in inverse order to employment; replacing the alternative teacher compensation system with a restructured teacher professional pay system, providing for compensation based on performance; authorizing and providing for school districts to establish education administrative districts to increase the efficiency of administrative services for public schools; authorizing school boards to offer rewards to persons providing accurate and reliable information leading to the apprehension and arrest of persons committing crimes against school property, students, employees or volunteers or school board members; prohibiting school districts or employees from using publicly funded resources to advocate for political candidates or for passing or defeating ballot questions or pending legislation; establishing a school site governance program to provide schools with more authority and flexibility in teaching and providing services to students at school sites; prohibiting school boards from entering into agreements to limit the authority to assign and reassign teachers or administrators to schools; eliminating the requirement for school superintendents to annually report to the commissioner on basic standards tests student passage rate support; authorizing and providing for full participation in extracurricular activities by charter school students residing in the district under certain conditions; modifying a certain provision providing for funding of online learning courses, equalizing funding for certain students; authorizing the commissioner to approve a certain number of charitable organizations to sponsor charter schools, specifying certain proposals content and annual reporting requirements; eliminating the authority of the commissioner to sponsor charter schools, expanding certain sponsor affidavit and contract content requirements, extending the time limit for commissioner approval or disapproval of proposed authorizations and modifying certain other provisions governing charter schools including the causes for nonrenewal or termination of the contract and certain revenue and aid provisions; restoring school district career and technical levy authority; authorizing American Indian education programs in charter schools and eliminating the required involvement of the American Indian education advisory committee in grant and scholarship awards; authorizing administrative regions of the state high school league to contract with the state auditor or with private certified public accountants (CPA) to perform annual audits, requiring the governing board in lieu of the state auditor to file copies of audit reports with the commissioner and the legislative reference library (LRL); authorizing the board of the Perpich center for arts education to conduct meetings by telephone or other electronic means; requiring school attendance to be eligible for a provisional drivers license or instruction or motorized bicycle permit, authorizing school district waiver of the requirement under certain conditions; expanding the definition of child in need of protection or services under the juvenile court act to continuing truants, requiring the court to cancel the driving privileges of continuing or habitual truants; authorizing the board of school administrators to adopt expedited rules to make technical revisions and clarifications to rules; requiring the commissioner to adopt rules by certain dates for approval of career and technical education programs emphasizing emerging workforce skills and for implementing the Minnesota comprehensive assessments second edition (MCA-IIs) in reading, mathematics and writing, to submit to the legislature by a certain date recommendations on charter school sponsor evaluations and fees and to develop and make available upon request to interested school boards a model policy to effect a reward for information concerning persons committing crimes against students, school employees, school volunteers, school board members or school property; authorizing school boards and exclusive representatives of teachers entering into collective bargaining agreements to enter into supplemental agreements for compliance with alterative teacher pay program provisions; appropriating money to the commissioner for charter school building lease and startup aids, for integration aid, for magnet school and interdistrict desegregation and integration transportation grants, for American Indian success for the future, scholarships and teacher preparation grants, for tribal contract schools, for statewide testing support, for AP and IB program student examination fees and teacher training and support program costs, for first grade preparedness grants, for collaborative urban educator and youth works programs, for student organizations, for the educational planning and assessment and college level examination programs, for career and technical education grants, for the Minnesota learning resource center and for grants to the Minnesota humanities commission and the Minnesota historical society for teacher professional development programs; repealing certain online learning option payment priority and state high school league audit report content requirements

ARTICLE 3 - SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Modifying the special education aid formula for charter schools; authorizing school districts to apply general provisions of the pupil fair dismissal act to children with disabilities with parents refusing to consent to the initial evaluation; changing the option for parents to agree or disagree to the administration to children with disabilities of sympathomimetic medications to psychotropic drugs, prohibiting school officials from using parental refusals to prohibit the student from attending class or participating in school related activities; modifying the nonresident tuition rate and certain other costs for children with disabilities; modifying certain membership requirements for special education parent advisory councils in districts with nonpublic schools and specifying a council meeting frequency requirement; modifying the deadline for recommendations for policies for a comprehensive and coordinated system and extending the council expiration date; restoring the special education program growth factor and eliminating the growth factor from the calculation of state total special education aid; providing for special education levy revenue, levy and levy equalization aid; eliminating the offset for referendum revenue from special education excess cost aid calculations; providing for initial and supplemental excess cost aids; increasing state total special education excess cost aid and modifying the aid formula and payment percentage; requiring the adjustment of special education aid under alternative attendance programs and modifying the tuition payment formula; requiring the commissioner of education to appoint an advisory committee to advise the staff of the Minnesota library for the blind and physically handicapped on long range plans and library services; adjusting the special education excess cost aid formula for independent school district #2580, East Central; requiring and providing for the establishment of a temporary task force on the delivery of special education services to nonpublic school students by public school districts; appropriating money to the commissioner for special education, regular equalization and excess cost aids, for aids for children with disabilities and for teacher travel for home based services, for special education litigation costs, for court placed special education revenue and for special education out of state tuition

ARTICLE 4 - FACILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY

Modifying the definition of eligible debt service revenue under the debt service equalization program to accommodate the creation of JOBZ property and adjusting the standing debt service appropriation; modifying certain notice publication requirements under the alternative facilities bonding and levy program; clarifying the authorized uses of capital project referendum accounts; providing for deferred maintenance revenue, levy and aid and specifying certain reserve account requirements; authorizing the commissioner of education to exempt facilities maintenance projects funded under the alternative facilities bonding and levy program from review and comment requirements; requiring school districts to include certain acoustical performance criteria in facility construction proposals; providing telecommunications/internet access equity aid to school districts or charter schools; reducing certain levy formulas under the maximum effort school aid program; clarifying a certain provision authorizing the payment of school district refunding bonds from taconite production tax revenues; authorizing independent school districts #2859, Glencoe-Silver Lake to levy to recover the costs of replacing a gymnasium floor at Lakeside elementary school and of the Lincoln junior high school water service line, #256, Red Wing to levy for the community ice arena construction deficit and #518, Worthington to use facilities owned by the state to provide adult or child foster care services; appropriating money to the commissioner for health and safety revenue, for debt service equalization, alternative facilities bonding, telecommunications/internet access and deferred maintenance aids

ARTICLE 5 - NUTRITION AND ACCOUNTING

Defining direct classroom expenditures, requiring school districts to spend a certain percentage of total K-12 operating expenditures on the expenditures, waiver; extending and modifying the structurally balanced school district budgets program; modifying certain levy recognition requirements; clarifying the requirement for state payment of school lunch aid; increasing the reimbursement rate for kindergarten milk; authorizing the commissioner of education to reduce or withhold state aid to school districts failing to submit structural balance reports; modifying the definition of cumulative amount guaranteed and defining current year payment percentage for aid payment purposes; authorizing certain fund transfers in independent school districts #2071, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, #883, Rockford, #883, Rockford, #418, Russell, #584, Ruthton, #177, Windom and #771, Chokio-Alberta, extending the disabled access levy authority of independent school district #595, East Grand Forks; requiring the commissioner in offsetting levy adjustments between levy categories to ensure positive categories for independent school district #599, Fertile-Beltrami to make the adjustments between levy categories imposed on identical tax bases before making adjustments between categories imposed on different tax bases, requiring continuation of the offsetting levy adjustments until expiration of the current referendum authority of the district; requiring the commissioner to adjust the current year aid payment percentage to reduce spending upon failure of the house of representatives to pass a racino bill; appropriating money to the commissioner for school lunch, traditional school breakfast and summer school food service replacement aids and kindergarten milk

ARTICLE 6 - LIBRARIES

Appropriating money to the commissioner of education for regional library basic system support grants, for multicounty multitype library systems, for the electronic library for Minnesota, for regional library telecommunications aid and for MnLink

ARTICLE 7 - EARLY EDUCATION

Expanding and modifying certain early childhood developmental screening requirements and increasing developmental screening aid; increasing early childhood family education revenue; expanding eligibility for and modifying the purpose and certain requirements of school readiness programs; requiring and providing for the commissioner of education to implement an early childhood development grant program for low income and other challenged families proposed by the Minnesota early learning foundation (MELF), progress report requirement; requiring school districts to allocate a certain percentage of compensatory revenue to support prekindergarten programs for certain young children from families eligible for the free or reduced price school lunch program; expanding the definition of public employee under the public employment labor relations act (PELRA) to early childhood family education teachers employed by school districts; establishing an early childhood education pilot program for at risk children; appropriating money to the commissioner for school readiness programs revenue, for ECFE and health and developmental screening aids, for head start programs and for the Minnesota early learning foundation; repealing certain existing provisions governing school readiness programs and aid

ARTICLE 8 - PREVENTION

Transferring the responsibility for the lead abatement program from the commissioner of education to the commissioner of health; increasing the general community education revenue formula; appropriating money to the commissioner of education for community education aid, for aids for adults with disabilities and hearing impaired adults programs and for school age care revenue (extended day aid)

ARTICLE 9 - SELF SUFFICIENCY AND LIFELONG LEARNING

Expanding valid expenditures under adult basic education programs and increasing the state total ABE aid formula and modifying the aid limit; requiring the commissioner of education to establish a reimbursement grant program to fund intensive English as a second language (ESL) programs for adult refugees; specifying certain renumbering and cross reference change instructions to the revisor of statutes; appropriating money to the commissioner for ABE aid, for GED tests, for lead hazard reduction and for grants for the intensive English language instruction for adult refugees

ARTICLE 10 - STATE AGENCIES

Requiring the board of teaching to adopt rules to create an interdisciplinary teaching license; providing for the validity of special education license variances issued by the board for primary employer low incidence regions in all low incidence regions; establishing an alternative teacher training program for qualified professionals to acquire entrance licenses, requiring the board to evaluate the efficacy of the program and report to the legislature by a certain date; defining the work year for teacher probationary period completion purposes; requiring school districts and the department of education to provide access to licensed student support services including licensed school nurses, counselors, social workers and psychologists, specifying certain funding exploration and access improvement consideration requirements; requiring the commissioner of education to convene a working group to improve the quality and decrease the cost of statewide student information and reporting systems; appropriating money to the commissioner for department expenses including the children's museum, the academy of science, the boards of teaching and of school administrators, single purpose charter school sponsors administration, alternative teacher licensure programs, the value added index assessment model and the development and distribution to school districts of materials addressing the dangers of methamphetamine, to the state academies for the deaf and blind and to the Perpich center for arts education; repealing the existing teacher alternative preparation licensing program

ARTICLE 11 - FORECAST DEFICIENCIES

Modifying certain prior appropriations to the commissioner of education for general education, referendum tax base replacement, nonpublic pupil and nonpublic pupil transportation, charter school building lease and integration aids, for American Indian success for the future grants, for tribal contract schools and special education aids, for aids for children with disabilities and for teacher travel for home based services, for court placed special education revenue, for health and safety, debt service equalization, alternative facilities bonding and traditional school breakfast aids, for kindergarten milk, for regional library basic system support and multicounty multitype library systems grants and telecommunications aid, for the electronic library, for school readiness programs revenue and for health and developmental screening, community education, adults with disabilities programs, extended day care and adult basic education aids
to match certain forecast aid estimates

ARTICLE 12 - TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS

Making certain technical and conforming amendments to certain statutory provisions relating to system accountability and statistical adjustments, to student suspensions, to youth work grants, to appropriation transfers and to the payment percentage for certain aids to school districts
(ra)