MinnPost photo by James Nord

Alternative teacher certification may be the first item on the House Education Reform Committee’s agenda, says its chairwoman, Rep. Sondra Erickson.

Minnesota’s education unions and legislators are likely headed for more battles this session.

House lawmakers are trying to pass alternative teacher certification in Minnesota again after contention over the issue killed the entire omnibus K-12 education policy bill last session.

It’s likely to be the first item on the House Education Reform Committee’s agenda, said Chairwoman Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton. The committee met today to discuss session priorities.

“The Legislature is in a position to work with Gov. Dayton and get something done, and I’m very confident that we’ll be able to reach agreement on that," said House Education Finance Committee Chair Pat Garofalo. "Whether the union will be in favor or against it, I don’t know and I don’t care.”

Alternative licensure programs and improving methods to measure teacher performance dominated discussions for future action.

Last session, Education Minnesota pressured DFL leadership to remove a provision dealing with alternative licensure, ultimately derailing the large education bill, said Rep. Mindy Greiling, former Education Finance Committee chairwoman.

 “It was disappointing that our leadership in both houses and both parties couldn’t get it together to send the governor an education bill,” said Rep. Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul. “It was a huge failure because there was lots of really good stuff in there.”

Union press secretary Lonnie Hartley said he couldn’t comment publicly about union plans on addressing the issues.

Mariani, the reform committee’s ranking minority member, will carry the legislation again this session with slightly altered language. The changes would impose a rubric designed to measure an alternatively licensed teacher’s proficiency.

Erickson said the measure is coming up first because “the groundwork has been done and it’s a good place to start.”

The certification would allow a college graduate to bypass some of the rigorous requirements necessary to become a teacher by enrolling in an “alternative preparation program.” The process aims to diversify educators and bring more teachers to shorthanded districts.

A representative from the Minnesota Board of Teachers will attend the committee’s next meeting to explain the board itself and the process a teacher undergoes to become licensed.

Erickson was guarded in her comments about other priorities for the session, although she said an agenda for the committee’s roughly 30 meetings exists.

During committee discussion, several members brought up other topics, such as early childhood education and reducing state mandates.

Rep. Kelby Woodard, R-Belle Plaine, said he’ll push to remove deadlines from negotiations between school districts and teachers in the coming weeks.