Signed by Governor Mark Dayton

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to adopt a conference report that appropriates funds for the Department of Education for fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.

Highlights:

• Requires a school board’s annual calendar for all-day kindergarten to include at least 850 hours of instruction per school year (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to adopt a conference report that appropriates funds for the Department of Education for fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.

Highlights:

• Requires a school board’s annual calendar for all-day kindergarten to include at least 850 hours of instruction per school year (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that appropriates funds for the Department of Education for fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, amends the high school graduation process, and establishes early learning scholarships.

Highlights:

• Repeals the requirement for a student to pass state graduation exams before the student is authorized to graduate from high school, beginning with students entering grade 8 in the 2012-2013 school year (Art. 2, Sec. 1). 

• Requires a student to demonstrate to their school the “satisfactory completion” of course requirements and an understanding of academic standards or a college entrance exam before the student is authorized to graduate from high school, beginning with students entering grade 8 in the 2012-2013 school year (Art. 2, Sec. 1).

• Appropriates $4.9 million for each fiscal year for AmeriCorps members who serve in the Minnesota Reading Corps program for the costs associated with the training and teaching of early literacy skills to children who are age 3 to grade 3 (Art. 3, Sec. 22).

• Specifies that funds appropriated not used in fiscal year 2013 are available for use in fiscal year 2014 (Art. 3, Sec. 22).

• Establishes early learning scholarships for children who are at least 3 years of age and whose family income is no more than 185 percent of the federal poverty line (Art. 8, Sec. 2).

• Authorizes the director of the Office of Early Learning to annually determine the maximum early learning scholarship amounts and to establish a range of scholarship amounts (Art. 8, Sec. 2).

• Requires the director of the Office of Early Learning to “try to maintain” a statewide annual average scholarship amount of $6,000 per recipient and to report the actual statewide annual average to the legislature (Art. 8, Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that appropriates funds for the Department of Education for fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.

Full Bill Text