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Legislative Information for MCGT Members

Gifted Education Advocacy Day

Proposed Legislation

MCGT's Legislative Committee Report

Reference Articles

Gifted Education Advocacy Day at the Capitol
Friday, April 11th

The MCGT Legislative Committee is sponsoring Gifted Education Advocacy Day on Friday, April 11th. Parents, students, and educators are strongly encouraged to attend this important event and to lend your voice to increase legislators' awareness of the educational needs of gifted students. We specifically need your help to support the 2008 proposed gifted legislation regarding educator training.

Registration and information sessions will take place in Room 400 South in the State Office Building (just west of the State Capitol building), one in the morning at 8:30 and one in the afternoon at 1:00. Briefings on the educator gifted training bill and on how best to advocate for this bill will be provided during these sessions. MCGT Legislative Committee members will also be available to answer any questions you may have and to accompany you to your meetings if desired. Buttons that say "Gifted Education Matters" will be passed out to all participants.

Prior to Advocacy Day, the MCGT Legislative Committee is asking you to set up appointments with your state senator and representative. If you are unaware of who represents your district, and/or need contact information, you can find this information by going to the following website:

http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html

We encourage you to bring your school age gifted children to the appointments and to team up with others from your legislative district. Small groups up to 4 individuals work best as legislator's offices do not have a lot of space and speaking time will be limited.

Please fill out the Notification of Legislative Appointments form as soon as you set up your appointment and email to janette@kirkley.net so we know how many will be attending this event.

If you will be attending Advocacy Day, please be sure to read through important information for the day provided here:
Important information for those attending Advocacy Day

If you are unable to attend Advocacy Day or your senator or representative is not available to meet with you on April 11th, please attempt to set up an appointment on another day prior to or in the week after Advocacy Day. We still need your support and your voice. If this is not possible to meet directly with your senator or representative, please call, write, or email him/her as soon as possible. Once again, emphasize that you are a constituent and ask for their support on educator training regarding gifted students and gifted services contained in the Educator Policy Omnibus bills, H.F. 3316 (House) and S.F. 3001 (Senate). Please see the section entitled "How You Can Improve Minnesota's Service for Gifted and Talented Children" for further information on best to advocate.

Please stay tuned to this page for updates and any further information.

If you have specific questions, please call or email Janette Boik at 651-322-2849, janette@kirkley.net or Dana Koletar at 612-599-1217, dkoletar@yahoo.com. On Advocacy Day, Janette can be reached on her cell phone at 651-470-8316 and Dana can be reached at 651-599-1217.

With YOUR help, we can make a difference in the quality of gifted education in Minnesota!

Summary of Proposed Legislation

Gifted and Talented Training for Educators

The language supporting gifted and talented training for educators is now included in both the House and Senate Education Policy Omnibus bills, House: HF 3633 and Senate: SF 3001. See below for links to the bills, as well as a link to a subset of the bills. The language for educator training in both the House and Senate versions are identical.

These bills would require that all universities that train teachers include learning opportunities in identifying gifted students as well as learning opportunities in providing instruction to gifted and talented students. They would also require that all universities that train administrators include learning opportunities in administering gifted and talented student programs and services.

In addition, the Board of Teachers and the Board of Administrators (the boards that set rules for the training of teachers and administrators) would need to review and approve the universities' programs which provide educator training for gifted and talented education. These boards may also advise universities on developing and implementing continuing education programs which focus on gifted and talented education.

Although the MCGT Legislative Committee had advocated for more extensive gifted training requirements for all educators, we believe this is a good start for improving the education of teachers and administrators regarding gifted students and services.

Identification Appeals Process

The original bill instructs school districts that they "may identify students, locally develop programs, provide staff development, and evaluate programs to provide gifted and talented students with challenging educational programs." In addition, "school districts must adopt procedures for the academic acceleration of gifted and talented students."

This year, wording inlcuding an identification appeals process has been added to the original bill on the House side only. This would allow parents to file an appeal if their child is not identified as gifted. Please lend your voice in supporting the addition of an appeals process to your representative in the House. If your senator is a member of the Education Committee (Wiger, Rummel, Hann, Bonoff, Carlson, Erickson Ropes, Johnson, Jungbauer, Lynch, Michel, Olseen, G. Olson, Saltzman, Stumpf, Torres Ray) then please request them to include the identification appeals process language in the Senate bill. If your senator is not on the Education Committee, please encourage him/her to speak with their colleagues on the Education Committee about including this language.

For complete histories and texts of the bills:
HF 3633
SF 3001

For a subset of the bills - showing just the language relating to the above proposed changes:
Proposed Changes to HF3316 and SF3001

MCGT's Legislative Committee Report

by Tina Armstrong, March 27, 2008

The MCGT Legislative Committee has been working hard over the last several months on educator training legislation. As of the time of this printing, language had passed included in a bill recommended by the Minnesota House E-12 Education Committee (HF 3633), and had been incorporated into the Senate Education Policy Omnibus Bill (SF 3001). These bills would require all universities that train teachers and administrators to include opportunities in gifted and talented education within their programs. The Board of Teaching and the Board of School Administrators would need to approve each program's sequence of competencies in gifted and talented. MCGT encourages its members to support this legislation. It will not only expand opportunities for educator training in gifted and talented but it will form a foundation for future years with the hope that someday all teachers and administrators will receive training in gifted and talented as part of both their preservice and their continuing education requirements. We hope to provide updates on the above bills on the legislative yahoo group and MCGTdotnet, but for more prompt notification, you can go to www.house.leg.state.mn.us and click on "My Bills" to register to automatically receive updates on the status of these bills.

Quick Action is Important. Since these bills are already in committee, it is important that you contact your representative or senator as soon as possible and ask them to support educator training opportunities in gifted and talented. Without your help, it will be extremely difficult to get this legislation passed. It is easy to think that your voice doesn't matter or that others will do the speaking for you. The reality is that we need every voice to speak up for our gifted students in Minnesota. We need YOUR voice in asking that all educators who come in contact with gifted children have appropriate education and on-going training in the identification of gifted students and in providing gifted programming. We need YOUR voice to ask for appropriate challenge for these children on a daily basis, not just occasionally in the classroom or once a week during an hourly pull-out. YOUR child's story could make the difference in your legislator's viewpoint, and in his or her vote, on gifted education. Elected representatives take notice when they hear from two people on an issue. They really take notice when they hear from five people on an issue.

Other Work by the MCGT Legislative Committee

Over the last several months, the committee has been developing a vision for future gifted and talented legislation. While much of that vision is best suited for a budget year at the capitol, the committee has done important planning and preparation for the years to come. Committee members have also been spending time networking with other organizations that are active in the Minnesota educational community. The committee met with groups such as the Minnesota Educators for the Gifted and Talented, Board of Teaching, Board of School Administrators, Minnesota School Boards Association, PACER, Minnesota Elementary Principals Association, Minnesota Secondary Principals Association, Metro Gifted Coordinators, universities, and others. The committee is hopeful that these relationships will be beneficial in legislative efforts on behalf of gifted kids in the years to come.

There are many opportunities to assist in these efforts. If you are interested in working with the MCGT Legislative Committee, contact Tina Armstrong, tina.armstrong@mcgt.net.

How You Can Help Improve Minnesota's Services for Gifted & Talented Children

1. Find out the names and contact information (office address, phone and email) for your representative and senator by going to the following website:

http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html

2. Once you know your senator and representative, you can contact them to let them know your position on these bills (see tips on how to do that below).

3. Set up an appointment to meet with your senator or representative. MCGT Legislative Committee Members are available if you want someone to accompany you on your visit. The committee is also in the process of setting up an Advocacy Day and will be encouraging members to set visits for that day.

Tips on contacting your legislator

The following link includes many hints that the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services and the League of Women Voter's publish for how to contact your state representative or state senator. These include tips for writing, emailing, phoning and visiting your legislator.

Tips on contacting your legislator

MCGT Legislative Committee:
Contact Information & Area of Specialty

As part of its mission, the Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented (MCGT) promotes "better understanding of, and educational services for, gifted and talented children and their families." MCGT is a 501(c)(3) charitable educational organization primarily devoted to informing parents and members of the public about issues related to gifted education. One activity some members participate in is grassroots contacts with members of the Minnesota Legislature to explain how pending legislation may affect families of gifted children. MCGT does not advocate the election of specific candidates for public office and welcomes participation by members of all political affiliations. If you are interested in learning more about pending legislation in Minnesota, contact the MCGT Office [mailto link] for information on how to sign up for an email list about discussion of legislative proposals. Your thoughts and ideas about sound public policy in regard to education are very welcomed by the MCGT board of directors [mailto link].

Reference Articles

Articles by former members of the MCGT board can be found through the links below. They reflect an earlier period of MCGT's efforts to inform the public about legislation that would be helpful to families of gifted children, and may not reflect the most recent concerns of MCGT members.

A Brief History of Gifted and Talented Legislation in Minnesota

Rationale for Funding Gifted Education

How do I Stay Informed on Legislation and What Is Happening?

Suggestions for Action

[legislative.html last revision 14 July 2008]