Relating to E-12 education

ARTICLE 1 - GENERAL EDUCATION

Modifying charter school general education revenue, four-day week plans, English learner, basic and extended time revenues, the operating capital levy, the student achievement rate, general education aid, building allocation, referendum allowance, the referendum allowance limit, and taconite payment; requiring the commissioner to approve flexible learning year applications within a certain time period; authorizing creation of a new intermediate school district in Carver, Scott, and LeSueur counties for two or more independent school districts; requiring the department to calculate intermediate district compensatory revenue based on certain enrollment counts for the south metro educational cooperative; requiring the commissioner to adjust each school district tax rate and each equalizing factor; clarifying independent school district #761, Owatonna, referendum revenue amount; appropriating money to the department of education for general education aid, enrollment options transportation abatement revenue, consolidation transition, nonpublic pupil education aid and transportation, one-room schoolhouse, and career and technical aid; repealing learning and development revenue amount and use annual report, health insurance benefits levies, and general education aid student achievement rate, levy, and districts off the formula provisions

ARTICLE 2 - EDUCATION EXCELLENCE

Making conforming changes; clarifying foreign language proficiency levels required for proficiency certificates and gold and platinum bilingual and multilingual state seals; directing Minnesota state colleges and universities (MnSCU) to establish criteria to translate seals into college credit for students' demonstrated foreign language proficiency; modifying local literacy plan and incentive aid requirements and rigorous course taking information and report requirements for career and technical education courses; establishing homeless and highly mobile students data reporting; requiring the board of teaching to require teaching candidates to demonstrate passing scores on board-adopted skills examinations and requiring testing accommodations; allowing teacher preparation programs to provide a year-long student teaching program; requiring the board to adopt rules to license applicants trained in other states and alternatively prepared teachers and requiring web publication; removing language excluding retired principals who serve as a substitute principal from continuing education requirements; requiring principal preparation program web reporting and publication; modifying board teacher candidate licensure requirements; allowing the board to grant two-year provisional licenses to licensure candidates; expanding teacher license suspension and immediate termination conditions to include certain sex crimes and offenses requiring predatory offender registration; modifying teachers and applicants trained in other states requirements; requiring the board to enter interstate agreements for teacher licensure; modifying alternative teacher licensing preparation requirements for two-year limited-term licensure; requiring licensing of teacher candidates with qualifying scores; prohibiting student placement in classrooms with certain teachers participating in certain improvement programs, have not had certain evaluations, or have received discipline under certain conditions; prohibiting student placement in classrooms with certain teachers who participating in certain improvement programs, have not had certain evaluations, or have received discipline under certain conditions; allowing educational improvement plans to be approved by governing boards; modifying the alternative pay system; allowing cooperative units to apply to be charter schools; modifying the staff development program, staff development revenue, and student teacher placement requirements; allowing 9th and 10th grade students to apply to enroll in a concurrent enrollment course upon approval of the school district and the postsecondary institution; allowing 10th grade pupils to substitute a reading assessment; allowing an exception on the post-secondary enrollment options act (PSEO) participation limit; directing eligible public postsecondary institutions to give full credit to students for PSEO program courses; establishing full-service community schools and a tribal nations education committee; modifying American Indian programs and teaching and an American Indian education aid program for certain school districts, charter schools, and American Indian-controlled tribal contract or grant schools; specifying American Indian education aid; modifying local literacy plan and incentive aid requirements; expanding use of basic skills revenue; directing eligible public postsecondary institutions to give full credit to students for completed PSEO program courses; modifying district achievement and integration levy; providing teacher development and evaluation revenue for educational cooperatives, education districts, and charter school sites without alternative professional pay system agreements; requiring a MnSCU transfer curriculum report; requiring the commissioner to inventory existing resources and best practices available for swimming instruction in public schools; allowing a district start date of 9/1/15; requiring a report on developmental or remedial course taking and recommendations on service-learning; appropriating money to the department of education for alternative compensation, achievement and integration aid, literacy incentive aid, interdistrict desegregation or integration transportation grants, Reading Corps, tribal contract schools, compensatory revenue pilot project, concurrent enrollment program, success for the future, American Indian education aid, collaborative urban educator, serveMinnesota program, student organizations, museum and education centers, teacher development and evaluation, Starbase MN, recovery program grants, , full-service community schools, Minnesota math corps program, American Indian teacher preparation grants, civic education grants, Minnesota principals??? academy, Race 2 Reduce, Northwestern online college in the high school program, and education partnership pilots

ARTICLE 3 - STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS

Modifying graduation requirements and allowing certain older students admission to adult high school diploma programs; modifying graduation requirements; delaying commissioner of education academic standards and benchmark review; requiring district use of current world languages standards; modifying science and mathematics credit equivalencies; requiring certain reports to the legislature; modifying statewide testing and assessment provisions; specifying limits on local testing; requiring commissioner contract with independent contractors to determine sufficiency of tests; appropriating money to the commissioner of education for the statewide testing and reporting system, ACT test reimbursement, and certain student examination and teacher training fees; repealing the educational planning and assessment (EPAS) system) program

ARTICLE 4 - CHARTER SCHOOLS

Recodifying charter school statutes; making technical corrections; removing obsolete and duplicative provisions; making clarifying changes; allowing charter schools to offer fee-based preschool and allowing prekindergarten enrollment for children with disabilities; allowing combined reporting; authorizing charter school mergers; appropriating money to the department of education for charter school building lease aid

ARTICLE 5 - SPECIAL EDUCATION

Modifying American sign language/English (ASL) interpreter requirements, special needs student transportation, special education charter school general and special education revenues, and services and programs eligibility and governance; defining dyslexia; replacing the interagency early intervention committee responsibilities with school and county board coordination responsibilities; modifying certain provisions for individualized education programs (IEP) related to paraprofessional training; authorizing school districts to contract with student information system vendors able to seamlessly transfer the records of students with disabilities; making optional certain required goals recommendations for restrictive procedures use reduction; requiring district special education aid reduction upon charter school special instruction and services; authorizing third-party payments and reimbursement under individualized family service plans; modifying reporting requirements, the resource center for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, charter school special education aid generation, district general revenue, excess cost aid, payment of aids and credits to school districts, and alternative attendance programs special and general education aid; implementing certain portions of the recommendations of the 2013 legislative auditor report on special education; appropriating money to the department of education for regular special education, travel for home-based services, special education out-of-state tuition, aid for children with disabilities, and court-placed special education revenue; repealing the transfer to the department of education of the state academies resource centers for the deaf or hard of hearing, and the blind or visually impaired, each also serving multiply disabled pupils

ARTICLE 6 - FACILTIES AND TECHNOLOGY

Modifying the definition of eligible debt service revenue; clarifying district second tier debt service equalization revenue; eliminating health and safety revenue programs; clarifying health and safety capital projects; establishing long-term facilities maintenance revenue; removing the requirement for schools to have current technology plans to receive telecommunications/internet access equity aid; modifying the local government definition for purposes of determining sales tax to government agencies; requiring research of existing programs to determine best practices for schools and districts implementing 1:1 device programs; providing for an orderly transition in the FAIR School Crystal and FAIR School downtown; providing for an information technology certification partnership; cancelling the previous biennium appropriation for the IT certifications partnership; appropriating money to the department of education for long-term equalization aid, debt service equalization, alternative facilities bonding aid, equity in telecommunications access, deferred maintenance aid, health and safety revenue, the information technology certification partnership, and the innovative technology cooperative; repealing the alternative facilities bonding and levy program and deferred maintenance revenue

ARTICLE 7 - NUTRITION AND ACCOUNTING

Requiring fee splitting for districts withdrawing from cooperative units; changing the dates for certain reports and adjustments; extending school district authority to transfer funds through fiscal year 2017; appropriating money to the department of education for school lunch, school breakfast, kindergarten milk, and summer school service replacement aid

ARTICLE 8 - LIBRARIES

Allowing libraries to apply for regional library telecommunications aid on behalf of member public libraries; appropriating money to the department of education for basic system support, multicounty, multitype library systems, the electronic library for Minnesota, and regional library telecommunications aid

ARTICLE 9 - EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Authorizing certain early education services for students from adjoining states; modifying a school readiness program requirement; increasing school readiness aid; appropriating money to the department of education for school readiness, early learning scholarships, the Head Start program, early childhood family education aid, developmental screening aid, the parent-child home program, the kindergarten entrance assessment initiative and intervention program, the quality rating system, early childhood programs at tribal schools, and the educate parents partnership

ARTICLE 10 - PREVENTION

Expanding early childhood vision screening requirements; requiring a legislative comprehensive vision examination report; appropriating money to the department of education for community education aid, adults with disabilities program aid, hearing-impaired adults, school-age care revenue, the Northside achievement zone, and the St. Paul promise neighborhood

ARTICLE 11 - SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND LIFELONG LEARNING

Modifying the Minnesota working family income tax credit; clarifying funding for the Minnesota working family credit under income tax provisions; appropriating money to the department of education for adult basic education aid and GED tests

ARTICLE 12 - STATE AGENCIES

Modifying certain provisions relating to travel abroad programs for Minnesota secondary school students; extending the school trust lands director term; designating the commissioner to serve as compact commissioner for the Interstate compact on educational opportunity for military children; appropriating money to the department of education for the boards of teaching and school administrators, the regional centers of excellence, the school safety technical assistance center, the school finance division, learning for English academic proficiency and success act implementation, information technology project services, the state academies, and for the Perpich center for arts education

ARTICLE 13 - FORECAST ADJUSTMENTS

Making conforming changes to appropriations consistent with the February 2015 economic forecast
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