Senate committee approves bill shifting some PELSB grants, funding alternative licensure

St. Paul — The Senate Education Policy Committee on Feb. 24 advanced Senate File 1462, a bill that moves administration of several grant programs and the voluntary paraprofessional credential from the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and provides funding for alternative licensure pathways.

Senator Kunish sponsored the bill and Dr. Elena Bailey, executive director of PELSB, testified that the measure is intended to improve operational efficiency and support timely license issuance. “This bill supports vital operations, including PELSB’s ability to process and issue licenses in a timely manner,” Bailey said.

Bailey told the committee PELSB currently oversees accreditation of 38 teacher preparation providers and nearly 700 teacher‑licensure programs, serves about 110,000 licensed teachers and administers “tens of thousands of licenses every year.” She said PELSB administered about $17,000,000 in grant funding last year, and that volume of grant activity has outpaced the capacity of the smaller licensing board.

Key provisions in the A2 amendment and the bill include:

• Moving administration of the Collaborative Urban and Greater Minnesota Educators of Color (CUGMEC) grants, the teacher mentorship and retention grants, and a teacher recruitment marketing campaign from PELSB to MDE; • Transferring one PELSB staff position that oversees grants to MDE; • Moving the voluntary paraprofessional credential administration to MDE; • Providing funding for operations, portfolio review and the heritage language licensure pathway; • Aligning reporting and statutory references and removing an obsolete testing requirement for Tier 1 license renewal that required teachers to simply attempt a content exam.

Bailey said licensure via online portfolio has grown since the state launched an online platform (Proserba) in October 2023. She described a statewide takeup map and said the portfolio pathway’s initial and additional license counts have already outpaced the prior year at the mid‑fiscal‑year mark. Bailey said the bill does not include a separate appropriation for the preparation pathways grant program because that work is covered under the operational staff funded in section 17.

Multiple supporters testified on the bill’s heritage language pathway and alternative licensure pathways. Alex Petrella of Education Evolving said the first heritage language cohort began with 47 educators representing nine languages and 18 districts; “40% of that first cohort have already attained their full license,” he said. Testifiers from Minneapolis Public Schools and program participants described heritage language instruction as promoting student identity and improving retention of teachers who represent communities served.

Senators reviewed the A2 amendment and adopted it by voice vote. The committee then voted to recommend the bill as amended be sent to the State and Local Government Committee.

Why it matters: Supporters said moving grant administration to MDE streamlines operations and provides staff capacity to manage expanding grant programs, while added funding for alternative pathways — including licensure by portfolio and heritage language pathways — aims to expand and retain teachers in shortage areas.

What’s next: SF 1462, as amended, will be sent to the State and Local Government Committee for further consideration.