HF1306

This bill amends various Minnesota education statutes to implement changes in K-12 education, encompassing areas such as general education, education excellence, charter schools, special education, and school nutrition. Key components include:

1. General Education:

   • Revises curriculum standards, emphasizing input from various stakeholders, including educators, parents, and business representatives.
   • Updates course credit equivalencies, permitting career and technical education (CTE), agriculture, and ethnic studies courses to fulfill certain graduation requirements.
   • Modifies policies on Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO), including allowing more students to take career and technical education courses.

2. Education Excellence:

   • Expands definitions related to comprehensive student achievement, incorporating concepts like culturally responsive teaching and institutional racism.
   • Enhances the state's student growth measures to ensure more detailed reporting on diverse racial and ethnic student groups.
   • Strengthens the state's bullying prevention policies, requiring more comprehensive tracking, reporting, and intervention strategies.
   • Establishes comprehensive school mental health systems to support student well-being.

3. Charter Schools:

   • Introduces stricter financial auditing and accountability requirements, particularly regarding management organizations.
   • Requires procurement policies to include competitive bidding for purchases exceeding $25,000.
   • Mandates that charter school board meetings be recorded and publicly accessible.
   • Strengthens oversight regarding charter school mergers, relocations, and contracts with education management organizations (EMOs) and charter management organizations (CMOs).

4. The READ Act (Reading Excellence and Dyslexia):

   • Expands funding for literacy resources and structured literacy training for educators.
   • Ensures compliance with science-based reading instruction methods.
   • Supports professional development for facilitators in literacy education to enhance student reading outcomes.

Overall, the bill seeks to improve educational equity, accountability, and student preparedness while ensuring transparency and effectiveness in school governance and academic performance.