House panel hears Minnesota Department of Education policy bill; advocates warn on literacy and science provisions

Chair Jordan presented House File 13-06 — the governor's education policy bill for 2025 — and the committee adopted the A1 amendment before taking public testimony and laying the bill over for further consideration on March 18.

Commissioner Willie Jett opened the department's presentation by saying the bill aims to "ensure clarity and consistency in our education statutes" and to "provide stability for schools and students," describing a package of technical fixes, accountability changes for charter schools, updates to PSEO access and adult basic education approvals, and expanded authorities for the Minnesota Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Megan Arriola, MDE legislative policy manager, provided a section-by-section walkthrough. Highlights include language to clarify that PSEO can be accessed by charter and tribal contract school students; an extension of adult basic education (ABE) program approval from five to six years to accommodate external grant requirements; clarifications and relocations in the Read Act (literacy) statutes, including a new statutory definition of "comprehensive school mental health systems"; charter-school accountability measures such as a requirement to record and post charter board meetings and to submit annual audit reports to MDE; and revisions expanding the OIG's authority to investigate theft, require program participants to comply with OIG requests during open investigations, and suspend payments when there is a credible allegation of fraud.

Public testimony raised concerns about specific provisions. Rachel Berger, representing the Dyslexia and Literacy Coalition, urged caution on proposed changes to the Read Act's screening and reporting language (Subdivision 2), saying data collection since the screening requirement took effect must be analyzed before statutory adjustments are made. Don Olson, representing the Minnesota Science Teachers Association, opposed the bill language that would allow certain health-science career and technical education courses to be classified as science-credit equivalents; he argued the science graduation requirements specify content-based standards that health courses would not meet and cautioned against confusing students about graduation-credit expectations.

Matt Chaver, senior policy director at Allies (student advocacy organization), praised some aspects, such as clearer PSEO access for charter and tribal contract school students and charter transparency measures, but urged the department to propose stronger legislative steps to address chronic absenteeism, which he said remains a major statewide issue. Committee members echoed those concerns: Representative Keeler and others asked for more action on attendance, and Representative Mueller (vice chair) and Representative Bennett emphasized caution on making Read Act changes before the department compiles data from recently enacted screeners.

The committee adopted the A1 amendment (described as technical and relocating certain sections for clarity) by voice vote and laid House File 13-06 over for further consideration. Committee members said they expect additional bipartisan work on attendance, literacy implementation, and several technical provisions before the bill moves forward.