OLA: For public safety’s sake, Board of Nursing needs to react quicker

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The Board of Nursing has taken too long to suspend nurses when there is a threat to public safety, according to an evaluation report released Thursday by the Office of the Legislative Auditor.The board has made better use of its authority to suspend nurses last year, when seven received suspensions. It will use the findings to support its ongoing work to improve efficiencies, Board President Deborah Haagenson told the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee.The auditor examined the board’s complaint resolution process after a series of 2013 media articles criticized nurses returning to practice following suspensions. Project Manager Jo Vos said half of the recommended changes affect the board, while the other changes would take legislative action.Among its in-depth look, Vos said the office looked at four characteristics of board actions: timeliness, fairness, consistency and reasonableness.Timeliness to process cases neededOn average, the board receives nearly 2,000 complaints per year, which amounts to about 1.5 percent of all licensed nurses in the state. Complaints can be categorized as practice related, such as making treatment mistakes, or more serious complaints such as drug or alcohol abuse/addiction.A majority of cases investigated are dismissed; others may include disciplinary action, such as a letter of reprimand in a personnel file; and the board may also opt for revoking a license.In substance abuse cases, a nurse has the option of self-reporting and entering an alternative disciplinary monitoring program called the Health Professionals Services Program.The program enables a nurse to continue practicing at some level during their recovery, with HPSP oversight for up to three years. There are varying reasons why a nurse may not finish the program, in which case HPSP notifies the board that the nurse is noncompliant and their license is suspended. Continue Reading

MN GOPers tout anti-transgender bills in emails to constituents

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In emails to constituents, Republicans are seeking to drum up support for a bill that would bar school from adopting transgender inclusive policies and would repeal a policy by the Minnesota State High School League that allows transgender students to participate in high school sports based on gender.Many of the Republican lawmakers are touting a mysterious poll conducted by Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, and paid for by an anti-LGBT group, the Minnesota Child Protection League. The Column has repeatedly sought information about the poll including methodology and specific language that was asked of those participating in the poll. The Minnesota Child Protection League has refused to respond to multiple inquiries.Below are excerpts from emails sent to constituents that were obtained by The Column. We will continue to update the list as more are identified.Sen. Paul Gazelka (PDF version):Reinforcing our children’s safety and privacy at school On Monday, Senate Republicans introduced the “Student Safety and Physical Privacy Act” to address serious concerns regarding a controversial new policy from the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL).Last December, the MSHSL issued a new ruling allowing transgender students to play on a sports team other than the team of the student’s biological sex. In effect, it allows male students who identify as female to play on female sports teams. The ruling was met with resistance from parents and families who were worried about what effect it would have on locker room and shower situations, and how the ruling would impact private and nonpublic schools. Continue Reading

Educators praise Dayton proposal to invest in pre-K and other services

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Education Minnesota, the organization representing 70,000 educators across the state, is praising Governor Mark Dayton’s plan to invest the projected state budget surplus in public schools, including free pre-kindergarten programs for all four-year-olds.The forecast from Minnesota Management and Budget released in late February showed the state’s previously forecast $1 billion surplus for the next biennium has jumped to nearly $1.9 billion. Dayton proposes to spend much of the projected surplus on education.Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said the plan calls for “significant new investments in pre-K, special education and expanding the teaching workforce.”“Gov. Dayton is investing education dollars where they’re needed – diversifying and expanding the teaching corps, reducing the unfunded mandates for special education services and preparing our youngest students for kindergarten and beyond,” Specht said. “Smart priorities like these are why he’s known as the ‘education governor.’”“We’re excited to learn more about the governor’s teacher workforce and retention program,” Specht said. “We’ve supported loan forgiveness programs for teachers in hard-to-staff areas in the past. Our local in St. Continue Reading

Education Department bill hones in on reducing standardized tests

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Gov. Mark Dayton believes students are losing valuable instructional time as the number of standardized test they are required to take continues to increase. He told legislators last week he wants to cut the number of such tests by one-third.That opinion made its appearance in bill form Thursday as the House Education Innovation Policy Committee began dissecting HF1591, sponsored by Rep. Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton). The proposed legislation serves as the Department of Education’s policy bill and contains a number of wide-ranging proposed policy reforms brought forward by Department Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.The committee is expected to resume its hearing on the bill Thursday evening with a motion to send it next to the House Education Finance Committee. Its companion, SF1495, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL-Maplewood), awaits action in the Senate Education Committee.Focus on testingDiscussion focused almost solely on the proposed standardized testing reforms.The proposal represents “a reasonable approach to making testing more efficient and effective, so that teachers can better prepare our children for a competitive global marketplace,” Dayton wrote in a March 5 letter to chairs of the House and Senate K-12 education committees.“The disproportionate amount of time and test preparation that has resulted from the federal No Child Left Behind law and additional state requirements has stifled teachers’ creativity and ability to impart information to students,” he noted.Preserving ability to track progressUnder current law, the average student in Minnesota schools will take 21 standardized exams between grades three and 12. Tests subjects include math, reading and science that are administered multiple times at different grade levels, along with “career and college ready” exams students must currently take while in high school. Continue Reading

‘Education savings account’ for students with disabilities? Or ‘voucher?’

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Public schools are required by state and federal law to accept students with disabilities and to make appropriate accommodations for their learning.So when a district – despite its best of intentions – fails to meet the individual educational needs of such students, where are the students and their families to turn?That’s an issue Amy Christensen-Bruce grappled with for years before she discovered Academy of Whole Learning. The private school located in St. Louis Park primarily serves students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Christensen-Bruce said it was the first school that was able gain her confidence that the unique needs of her now fourth-grade son – who has autism – were being met.Whether he was enrolled at a local public school or a charter school, Christensen-Bruce said her child struggled to learn at the rate she knew he was capable of.“A lot of the time, there were other kids (with special needs) that would need more attention than him, so he would get lost in the shuffle,” Christensen-Bruce said. “The help that my son needed, it just wasn’t getting done in the public schools.”Christensen-Bruce believes Academy of the Whole Learning is “getting it done.” But she realizes that because it is classified as a private school, enrollment opportunities are limited for many other families who could benefit from its unique learning environment that specializes in accommodating and adapting to the needs of children with autism.That’s why Christensen-Bruce supports HF1529, which would establish an education savings account for students with disabilities to use to attend schools that meet their needs.Sponsored by Rep. Kelly Fenton (R-Woodbury), the so-called “Education Savings Account for Students with Special Needs Act” aims to allow parents to more flexibly use the per pupil education funding allocated to their children with special needs.Fenton said the bill would give parents of children with special needs the power to choose the best educational options for their kids.These options include flexibility for parents to choose education-related therapies, tuition and fees at a nonpublic school specializing in a therapy or disability, textbooks and tutoring, or other education resources.The bill contains a provisions that would allow for the Department of Education to monitor and track expenses of the account to ensure the funds are being spent in accordance with the language of the proposed legislation.In Christensen-Bruce’s case, the provisions would alleviate the financial burden on her family for her son’s enrollment at Academy of Whole Learning. Continue Reading

How the Minnesota DFL Lost Their Narrative

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    One can already see the Minnesota Republican political narrative for 2016 and it is not pretty for the Democrats.  Simply put the narrative is that the DFL is out of touch with middle class Minnesota, they are the party of gridlock, and GOP will defend the middle class and stop the bickering.  How did all this happen?    The strength of the DFL narrative in 2010 and even though most of the 2013-14 session was its defense of the middle and working class.  They had a great narrative: an increased minimum wage, tax increases on the wealthy and cuts for the middle class, more money for K-12, and the Women’s Economic Security Act.  This is a terrific “We are on your side message.”  But somewhere along the way to the 2014 elections the Minnesota DFL lost their message and the battle for images and symbols.  Spending on a new state senate office building did not help and the messaging on taxes and spending fell flat, costing the DFL the House in 2014.     Now the DFL are in trouble.  Dayton’s push for commissioners’ pay raises was simply politically dumb.  After years where most Americans if not Minnesotans have not seen pay increases, arguing for commissioners’ raises when they already make two to three times the median family income in Minnesota was not smart.  Nor were defenses of it by some DFL commentators that these individuals deserved raises or else government would not be able to recruit or hold talented administrators.  It sounded greedy…like private sector business CEOs who whine they do not make enough.    But then it got worse.  The Dayton-Bakk fight did not look good.  It painted a party as dysfunctional, undermining another narrative that the DFL had for the last two years–they delivered on their promises.  And then the deal to address the raises was brokered by Kurt Daubt–the GOP Speaker of the House.  His intervention sets up a narrative that the DFL cannot govern alone and that what is needed is unified Republican control of the legislature.  Moreover the deal he did broker did not take the pay raises off the table–it merely postponed them until later this year–even closer to the 2016 elections.    And then this past week the State Auditor sharply criticized the mismanagement of MNSure.  Yes it has insured many more Minnesotans yet its managed was flawed and it needs to be fixed.    Finally, while no one doubts we need to spend billions more on infrastructure and that the Republican proposal to spend the non-existent surplus on roads and bridges is an insufficient smoke and mirrors idea, the DFL have not messaged their proposed tax increases well.    So think about 2016 and the issues Republicans will use.    The Senate office building will be nearly done, standing as a monument to government excess; pay raises for commissioners while the middle class struggle; tax increases for infrastructure; health care mismanagement; and possibly a feuding DFL that cannot work together.  Together they paint a picture of Democrats as out of touch with middle class Minnesotans and as a party that potentially cannot get anything done (aided by Republicans who now have an incentive to drive the state into a budget impasse or shut down again and then blame it on the DFL).  This is a 2016 Minnesota replay of what the national Republicans did in 2014 when the ran against Obama and the Senate Democrats.    What is perplexing is how the DFL lost control of its narrative again.  In the larger scheme of things they are probably do way more to help middle class Minnesota than the Republicans are, but they are simply terrible at messaging and one wonders if they can improve their ability to communicate and understand how these issues play beyond their metro base. – [See original post at: http://schultzstake.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-minnesota-dfl-lost-their-narrative.html#sthash.okyzJ8ed.dpuf] Continue Reading

Press Jumps On MN House Speaker For Budget Surplus Claim

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  Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt says one of the reasons Minnesota’s predicted budget surplus has increased is higher economic confidence since Republicans won a majority in Minnesota’s House last November. The state revenue forecast released today showed Minnesota will have a $1.86 billion surplus, an $832 million dollar increase from the last forecast. State revenues go up mostly because of increased sales tax revenue and income tax revenue.“Part of this economic confidence is there is balance restored in state government,” Daudt told reporters.Pioneer Press reporter Rachel Stassen-Berger almost immediately pressed Daudt if he “could reiterate that theory… the theory that this forecast is good because Republicans now have the House and there is balance restored to the Capitol? Tell me more about that.”Daudt responded that Minnesota Democrats lost the House because the revenue forecast in November (also a surplus) showed that the policies Democrats put in place the last two years “didn’t help Minnesota’s families and didn’t help Minnesota’s economy.”Daudt said the increase in this latest forecast is mostly because gas prices are low “But I think Minnesota’s economy also understands that we don’t have a runaway government that when we didn’t need to raise any taxes put in place one of the largest increases in state history.”Governor Mark Dayton with Democratic majority in both the House and Senate raised the taxes on the top 2 percent of earners in Minnesota. Dayton was re-elected by a large majority.“I think that people have confidence in that balance has been restored in state government,” said Daudt.More reporter questions and video of the exchange Another reporter asks if Republicans are claiming credit for the portion of the surplus that happened after they took office. Continue Reading

DFLer Vows to Fight MNGOP Minimum Wage “Tip Penalty”

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State Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul), says she is disappointed that Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) has introduced bill that would reduce minimum wage to $8 an hour for for workers who earn an average of more than $12 hourly with tips. The bill will have its first hearing Monday in the House Job Growth & Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee. You can watch a live stream of the hearing starting at 12:45 p.m. on The UpTake. Murphy says she hopes the bill will be defeated in committee and not reach the House floor, but realizes that Republicans will probably pass the bill. She says she hopes the Senate or Governor Dayton will prevent the “tip penalty” from being signed into law. Continue Reading