Capitol View: August 8, 2011 Archive

Dayton wants out of No Child Left Behind

Posted at 2:14 PM on August 8, 2011 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton, U.S. House, U.S. Senate

Gov. Dayton is taking swift action today to opt out of the federal No Child Left Behind standards. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that the federal government will start granting waiver to states that want to opt out of the No Child Left Behind law that was passed in 2001. Dayton issues a statement today saying he would do just that.

"Any education reform in Minnesota must begin and end with what is best for our children. The decade old federal law, known as No Child Left Behind, has failed to meet that standard. When it was enacted in 2001, nine of the ten members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation, including all three Republicans and myself, voted against it. Unfortunately, we were right. NCLB has imposed rigid testing requirements, many of which have harmed, not improved, the quality of students' learning experiences. It has labeled many schools wrongly, by applying invalid statistical measures.

"We can and must do better for our children. That is why today I have approved Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius' request to apply for the recently announced federal waiver, exempting schools temporarily from the flawed testing requirements and punitive sanctions of the current No Child Left Behind law.

"Such a waiver would allow Minnesota educators to focus on what is working in their schools. It would provide school boards, administrators, teachers, and parents with the flexibility they need to implement the reforms the Legislature and I enacted in the recent session."

As noted in the statement, Dayton voted against the No Child Left Behind Law in 2001. The only member of the delegation to vote for the bill was DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar. DFL Rep. Bill Luther abstained from voting.

Out of the state fiscal frying pan but into the fire?

Posted at 5:55 PM on August 8, 2011 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

Gov. Dayton and GOP legislative leaders may be breathing a sigh of relief that a historic $5 billion projected budget deficit is behind them. The only problem is that they may be facing another budget shortfall when the 2012 legislative session starts in January. Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter said the dramatic stock sell off in the past week, concerns over an economic slowdown and high unemployment could all mean fewer tax dollars flowing into the state's treasury.

"Balancing the budget once, unfortunately, doesn't guarantee that it will be balanced for the entire biennium," Schowalter told MPR News. "When big things like this happen, it will have ripple effects throughout our economy and that will affect our revenues and our spending."

Dayton and GOP legislative leaders ended a three-week state government shutdown by borrowing against future tobacco payments, delaying payments to K12 schools and cutting spending. The plan was heavily criticized because it didn't address the state's long-term structural deficit through permanent spending cuts, tax increases or a mixture of both. Schowalter said Dayton and the GOP-controlled Legislature may be forced to make another set of tough decisions if the state faces another budget deficit when the next revenue forecast is issued near the end of the year.

"Right now, we have a lot of uncertainty whether we're going to have a double dip recession and that means for the state of Minnesota and organizations generally, more uncertainty and more questions. We're going to have to act quickly and responsibly and make sure we keep our financial affairs in really good order."

Minnesota is scheduled to borrow $700 million to help balance the current budget. That money is leveraged by future payments from tobacco companies that the state receives from a settlement of a suit over smoking costs. The state is also scheduled to borrow $500 million to fund public works projects. Schowalter said S and P's decision to downgrade U.S. debt comes on top of two negative reports about Minnesota's credit rating. Schowalter said the state would likely be forced to pay more for that borrowing.