Week of March 5th – 9th
Keeping up the Momentum on School Safety
On Wednesday, students from Central High School in St Paul led a walk-out to protest gun violence. Their march ended at the state capitol, where they were joined by other students. I got the chance to talk with several of the participants. One of them turned out to be a constituent!
It was an incredible thing to experience. The passion and confidence were some of the strongest I have seen from any group here at the capitol, regardless of age. After hearing these young people speak, I have been filled with that same confidence. This fire will not burn out. They simply will not let that happen, and will not let us as legislators forget that.
I was given the opportunity to speak to these students, and those comments can be found HERE. You can also view my reflections on the day by clicking HERE.
Moving Legislation on School Safety
On this subject, I am proud to be the chief author for SF 2907, which focuses in on school safety outside of gun violence. While I am wholeheartedly in support of things like universal background checks, I know that there is more to this problem than one single answer. This separate bill has three central pillars:
- All new school buildings would be required to undergo a safety review before construction. This would ensure that the building has things like doors that can be locked from the inside a classroom. One of the students who was injured during the shooting in Parkland, Florida, was shot as he attempted to go into his hallway to lock his classroom door. This is a very doable and bipartisan fix.
- All school districts would be permitted to increase their Safe Schools Levy, and could use those increased funds to retrofit their classrooms to provide lockable doors. I have heard loud and clear from my constituents that they would be willing to pay these taxes if it means keeping our kids safe.
- Increased funds would be made available for the Support Our Students grant program. This program allows school districts to apply for state funds to hire additional counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and chemical dependency professionals. People in these positions are invaluable. In addition to improving educational outcomes, they can also help identify suspicious behavior in students and intervene before there is a crisis.
The full bill can be viewed by clicking HERE.
Governor Dayton has proposed similar legislation in his Safe and Secure Schools act, and I look forward to working with him to get this done.
Letting Teachers Teach
Thursday evening, the Senate Education Policy Committee heard SF 2487. This bill, while well-intentioned, prevents teachers from exercising their first amendment right to free speech. If a student tells a classmate that they are less than a person because of their race, gender identity, sexuality, or religion, this law would prevent the teacher from putting a stop to that bullying. For that reason, I opposed this bill. During my years as a teacher, I could not fathom the possibility of staying silent if a student was the target of bigotry.
This bill was opposed by students, teachers, and parents. I got the chance to talk with two students from Edina High School before the hearing, and hear some of the reasons for their opposition. You can listen to an audio recording of my comments by clicking HERE.
Advocacy at the Capitol
Thursday was ECFE & ABE Educator Day at the Capitol. These educators, who teach Early Childhood Family Education and Adult Basic Education, are currently barred in state law from being eligible for continuing contracts. After working for as short of a time period as six months, they can be forced to reapply for their jobs and face an incredible amount of uncertainty. This is wrong, because research shows us that young developing children need consistency in their lives.
I was incredibly grateful for the chance to meet with these educators, and discuss a bill they are advocating for that would remove this barrier. This is good common-sense legislation, and I hope we can get their bill passed this year.
A class from Minnetonka High School came to visit on Wednesday. Representative Pryor and I had a great discussion with them after they finished their capitol tour.
Tuesday was Homes for All day at the capitol, and I had the wonderful opportunity to discuss solutions for homelessness with a large group of constituents. They are advocating for a bonding proposal this year to fund additional affordable housing construction, and I am proud to support their bill.
Wednesday was Nursery and Landscaping day at the capitol, and I got to meet with some wonderful constituents and hear about their legislative priorities which would help small businesses.