Greetings,

JULIE SABO Begins Serving As New MFT Lobbyist!

The MFT is very lucky to be able to bring Julie Sabo on board as our lobbyist over at the Capital. Julie will replace longtime union activist, MPS teacher and MFT lobbyist,  Jim Pearson, who passed away just over a year ago.  It is very important for MFT to have a voice at the capital with all the discussions being held and the decisions being made about education, health care, transportation,  unionism, poverty, and so on.

Julie comes with a great background that will serve MFT well. 

She is:

--a MPS teacher on leave and MFT member. 
--a former legislator. 
--daughter of Martin Sabo one of Minnesota's premier legislators for many years. 
--familiar with the Capital and already knows many of the faces and issues. 
--a passionate advocate for teachers, students and public education. 
--a mother and wife whose child attends a Minneapolis Public School.

Julie will work side by side with Rose Hermodson, long time MFT lobbyist who has served us very well.  Rose will be reducing her hours and eventually retire but not before Julie has been fully mentored in her new role providing for a smooth transition.

We welcome Julie and look forward to her weekly Capital News summaries to help us keep us informed.  See her first summary below!

Lynn Nordgren President, MFT

The Week at the Capital...

In stark contrast to the the activity and excitement in Washington D.C., Saint Paul was very quiet last week.  The State Senate Education committee held no meetings.  University of Minnesota researchers presented information on Best Practices to the House Education Policy Committee. Education Commissioner Alice Seagren presented the department's plan titled, "Continuing the Transformation to a World-Class System of Education", to the House Education Finance Committee.  Accountability through testing is a common thread throughout the departments plan. The purpose for these presentations was for background knowledge in preparation for the flurry of bills that will follow the release of the Governor's Budget on January 27.

The quiet week provided opportunities for your MFT lobbyists, Rose Hermodson and Julie Sabo, to meet with members of the Minneapolis House delegation in a meeting hosted by Rep. Jim Davnie.  The House proposal for a new education financing system and its implications for future funding of Minneapolis schools was discussed.  Rose and Julie also participated in a working group with Sen. Bonoff regarding her bill to establish a mandated shared services purchasing program for school districts and charter schools. Shared purchasing programs are  currently voluntary.

The most significant event for the upcoming week will be the release of the Governor's Budget proposal.  The deficit of $4.8 billion is a moving target, increasing in size. For a real solution there must be some real money involved, new money.  A shift does not produce any new money, it is essentially a cut by another name.  Shifts are accounting gimmicks, not solutions, that the Governor is expected to rely on heavily.  Other topics in committees next week will be:  the  Graduation-Required Assessment for Diploma (GRAD) Test, racial disparities in education achievement in Minnesota, College and Career Readiness, the importance of Early Childhood Education, and a bill dealing with a quality rating and improvement system establishment for  children's early learning and care programs (S.F. 72).

Respectfully Submitted,

Julie Sabo  MFT Lobbyist