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Committee hears bill to streamline teacher licensing, fund heritage‑language pathway and shift grants to Education Dept.
Summary
Sen. Kunish presented SF 1462 on March 12 to provide operational support to PELSB, move certain grants to the Department of Education and fund alternative licensure pathways including a heritage‑language pathway.
Sen. Kunish presented Senate File 1462 to the Senate Education Finance Committee on March 12 to provide operations funding and statutory changes to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB). The bill would streamline several administrative requirements, move certain grant programs to the Minnesota Department of Education, provide staffing and IT support for the Board of School Administrators to issue administrator licenses, and fund alternative pathways to licensure including the portfolio route and a heritage language educator pathway.
Dr. Elena Bailey, executive director of PELSB, said the bill "supports vital operations, including our ability to license 110,000 teachers across the state of Minnesota," and described proposed reallocations and operational funding for portfolio review, the heritage language pathway and alternative pathway cohorts. PELSB staff said last year the agency administered roughly $17 million in grant funding; the bill moves two grants (Collaborative Urban and Greater Minnesota Educators of Color and the teacher mentorship/retention grant) to the Department of Education to align grant administration with capacity.
Dr. Angelo Tsuji, chair of PELSB, and Dr. Akila Roberson (Education Evolving) described the heritage language licensure pathway and early outcomes. Roberson said the first cohort included 47 educators representing nine languages; she reported that 40% of that cohort had already attained full licensure and that PELSB received 64 applicants for the second cohort. Samira Abdulrahman, a multilingual learner teacher at Willow Creek Middle School, testified that she became the first Somali‑licensed teacher in Minnesota via the portfolio pathway and described parents and students asking for heritage language instruction.
Teachers and students who completed heritage‑language classes described classroom and family benefits: students said the classes helped them connect more deeply with family members and better understand their heritage, and teachers said the pathway preserved cultural identity while strengthening literacy and access to instruction.
Action: After testimony the committee laid SF 1462 over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.
