EdAction
Maple River Education Coalition PAC
105 Peavey Rd, St 116 
Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931
http://www.EdAction.org
E-mail

May 18, 2000

Capitol Report!

The Profile of Learning conference committee agreement reached in the late hours Wednesday night did not include a North Star Standard that was independent of the Profile of Learning.  The bill as it has passed does not release schools from performance packages or from the rubric scoring system.  While pretending to provide relief to Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Post Secondary Education Option (PSEO) students, this bill renders those programs practically useless.  That is the "Profile fix" that was negotiated by the House and Senate conference committee.

We will be sending on a more thorough report for you in within a day or two.  But one never mentioned item in the "Profile Fix" that passed the House and the Senate requires all Minnesota state colleges and universities, the University of Minnesota and the boards of Minnesota PRIVATE COLLEGES to notify the Commissioner of Children, Families and Learning of those college courses that "meet the requirements" of the Profile of Learning ("equally or more rigorous than the content standard required by the state graduation rule"). The Commissioner will then publish a list of the courses at these institutions that meet the are eligible for PSEO students to be enrolled in. In other words, PSEO courses must also become Profile of Learning courses.

The Senate passed the bill at about 2:30 a.m. and the House at about 4:30 a.m. this morning. 46 Republican members of the House voted AGAINST the bill their leadership negotiated, demonstrating how little support the bill had among the House majority.  It would have failed in the House entirely without the FULL support of the DFL minority.

We will be posting roll call votes for all of the House and the Senate members.  Please thank those House and Senate members who voted against this Profile bill, SF 3286.

One thing has become perfectly clear.  The radicals have total control of education policy in our state.  Let's not kid ourselves.  School-to-Work, Goals 2000 and the profile of Learning are ALL RADICAL programs.

The education cartel believe they have won -- again.  And, in some ways, that is true. However, many more citizens today understand the truly radical nature of the new Minnesota education agenda.  Many more legislators understand what is really happening.  And we now have all legislators -- and the Governor -- on record on key issues of education policy. The fact of the matter is, Senator Pogemiller and Senator Moe are totally dedicated to the new education system.  We now need leaders in the House who are just as committed to supporting good education policy that is necessary to maintain our freedom as a nation.  And we need to replace the leadership in the Senate!

Remember that "truth always precedes freedom."  We have made tremendous progress in informing Minnesotans of the truth.  That recognition of the truth MUST HAPPEN before substantial improvements can be made.  That is, we've made progress, but much more needs to be done.

You also need to know that legislators admitted that they heard from the public on this as no other issue.  They ONLY heard opposition to the Profile and support of the North Star Standard.  There was NO public groundswell for the Profile of Learning!  It was only the cartel, the stakeholders, the people whose jobs depended upon this system, who were lobbying to support the Profile.

Thank you for all that you have done to bring this issue before the Minnesota public!

EdAction - 105 Peavey Rd, Ste 116, Chaska, MN  55318 
952-361-4931 - edaction@lakes.com - (c) EdAction - All rights reserved.