MPR: Legislature Keeps "Profile", But Future is Uncertain

Legislature Keeps "Profile," But Future is Uncertain
By Michael Khoo
May 18,1999

Funding for K-12 education was one of the last pieces to fall into place as the Legislature wrapped up its business. House and Senate negotiators reached consensus on a $7.9 billion appropriations bill with only hours left until adjournment. But the Legislature took no action to reform the new Profile of Learning curriculum standard, despite a last-minute attempt to strike a deal.

THIS YEAR'S K-12 SPENDING BILL IS THE LARGEST in Minnesota history and represents a roughly $1 billion boost over spending in the previous budget. The package passed both houses with solid support: 129 to 2 in the House and unanimously in the Senate. Children, Families, and Learning Commissioner Christine Jax says the bill also has the support of the governor. "A lot of money going to the formula is going to give a lot of local control," said Jax. "There is also money in special education which relieves local money, so that has the same kind of impact. The governor also got his other initiatives like the Fast Break for Breakfast, the class-size initiative; it's everything that I think Minnesotans would want to see."

The package marks a significant change in the way K-12 education is funded. Rather than target money toward narrowly-defined programs in individual districts, the bill channels more dollars into the so-called general formula, which apportions funds based on the number of students in each school district. House Republican Harry Mares, who helped negotiate the final bill with the Senate, says that allows more local control over how the money will be spent. "That's a basic philosophy of the House," Mares said. "It's more local control, greater input from the parents and the community in the educational process."

But the philosophy of local control proved to be a stumbling block in negotiations over the Profile of Learning. Governor Ventura and the Senate wanted to maintain the program with modifications, while the House had voted to abolish it - calling it a cumbersome state mandate. With three hours remaining in the session, Senate negotiators made a last-ditch offer that would have given the commissioner the authority to modify the Profile and fix problems in implementation.

DFL Senator Larry Pogemiller says the last-minute proposal was not his first choice, but he felt some action was necessary. "I believe the way this is framed, the governor would have said, 'This looks pretty good. We would have preferred if the Legislature would have done all this, but if you want the commissioner to do it, we'll have the commissioner do it.'" Pogemiller said.

But House Republicans didn't take the bait. Representative Gene Pelowski was the lone DFLer on the House side of the conference committee and has been outspoken in his criticism of the Profile. But he says the Senate offer had merit. Pelowski, a high-school teacher from Winona, says he's concerned because the lack of an agreement leaves the current Profile intact. "Politics have gotten in the way, now, of good policy," Pelowski said. "Unfortunately, I've got to go back in the classroom this week and I've got to start living with it."

Pelowski says the stalemate has left Minnesota struggling with a malfunctioning graduation standard. Commissioner Jax agrees. She says without the authority offered in the Senate compromise, she has very little room to modify the program and ease the implementation. She says large changes, such as eliminating the hands-on learning projects known as performance packages or exempting this year's ninth graders from the requirements, are out of the question. "What I can do is comb through the Profile of Learning rule with a fine-tooth comb and try to figure out what kinds of things are open to interpretation, what kinds of things we're doing right now that have caused problems in implementation that we can stop doing, what kinds of things that we can do to help the teachers better reach the students," Jax said.

Representative Mares recognizes the stalemate has left a status quo with few supporters, but he says just modifying the Profile would not go far enough. Educators, he says, will have to make do. "I have a lot of faith in them, having been a teacher," They'll make corrections and adjustments and give the youngsters a good quality education."

Mares said he had not had a chance to study the final Senate offer, but that it could be a foundation for discussions between now and next year.

If you know of news which you believe would be of interest to us, please email Online News Editor Bob Collins at bcollins@mpr.org.

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