Information Literacy: The Bridge to College Readiness

FRIDAY, JUNE 20,2008
8:00am – 3:30pm
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ST PAUL CAMPUS CONFERENCE CENTER

Sponsored by Metronet and the Cooperating Libraries in Consortium (CLIC)

The goal of this conference is to demonstrate the importance of information literacy skills for students’ success in college. Information literacy is defined as the ability to follow a systematic process in doing research, that is, with the knowledge of how to formulate questions, gather, evaluate, and organize the information discovered, draw conclusions, present results, and use information sources in an ethical and responsible manner. Conference attendees will learn about the efforts of some of Minnesota’s secondary schools to teach these skills, the expectations of college faculty (especially those involved with “freshmen year experience” courses), and the importance of improving the alignment of information literacy instruction between secondary schools and colleges and universities. Educators in Minnesota have recognized alignment as a critical issue, one that the Governor’s P-16 Group is working on particularly with respect to math and science education. Consequently the conference should be of interest to K-12 teachers and school media specialists, college and university faculty and librarians, school administrators, curriculum specialists, legislators, government officials, and others interested in how we can better prepare Minnesota’s students with 21st Century skills.

Cost: $30 includes materials, lunch, refreshments, and parking

Registration deadline: June 13, 2008

For a detailed schedule, information about speakers, and a link to the online registration,

visit http://www.metrolibraries.net/library-wire/overview.html

Legislative Update

Education Funding Bill: Despite optimistic reports yesterday that a budget agreement between the Governor and legislative leaders was imminent, talks broke down in the early evening. Later in the evening, the House and Senate passed HF 6, the education funding bill (see my report from yesterday for details of that bill). Governor Pawlenty has said he will veto the bill. The question is whether a veto might be overridden. The bill passed last night by wide margins in both bodies, receiving 97 votes in the House (where 90 votes are needed for an override) and 55 votes in the Senate (where 45 votes are needed for an override). Typically, there will be some legislators, especially those of the same party as the Governor, who will vote for a bill but are not willing to vote to override a veto.

Real ID: Last night the House and Senate also passed another bill prohibiting Minnesota from complying with the federal Real ID Act. The American Library Association opposes Real ID, as do many other organizations. This bill, HF 3807, is also expected to be vetoed. The bill passed the Senate with 50 votes and the House with 103 votes, so a veto override is possible.

Levy Limits: Governor Pawlenty is insisting on very strict levy limits on cities and counties as part of the overall budget agreement. Although we do not have a formal position on levy limits, public libraries could be adversely affected by levy limits. You may want to contact your legislator about this issue.

Education Policy Bill Vetoed: As expected, the Governor vetoed the omnibus education policy bill yesterday. You can access his veto message.

Legislative Update

We are in the final week of the legislative session. Legislators must adjourn no later than Monday, May 19 and they are prohibited from passing any bills on the day of adjournment. This means that the last day for passing bills will be either Saturday or Sunday. Sunday floor sessions are not prohibited, but they are generally avoided.

The Governor and legislative leaders have not reached a budget agreement. Negotiations are continuing. The key issue is levy limits for cities and counties. The omnibus tax bill that was agreed upon over the weekend by the House and Senate includes levy limits, but the Governor has said that they are not strict enough.

The House and Senate have agreed on a tax bill, a budget bill and a separate education funding bill, but have not yet taken these bills up on the floor. If there is an agreement with the Governor, the bills will be amended to reflect that agreement and will then be brought to the floor for passage. If there is not an agreement the bills will be brought to the floor for passage in their present form, and the Governor would veto them. If this happens, the Governor will have the choice of calling a special session or using his authority to unallot spending in order to balance the budget.

Here is a summary of the provisions of interest in the tax and budget bills that have been agreed upon by the Legislature (keep in mind that these may change if there is an agreement with the Governor):

E-12 Education Funding Bill (HF 6): The education funding items that had been part of the omnibus budget bill were moved in to a separate education funding bill over the weekend, but the substance has not changed. This bill raises the general education formula by $51 per pupil on a one-time basis, raises the general education formula by $35 per pupil in future years (through eliminating the permanent fund subtraction), and allows school districts to transfer up to $51 per pupil from total operating capital to their general fund. It also cuts the Department of Education operating budget by 4%. These provisions were all previously included in the agreement reached by the E-12 Working Group nearly a month ago (see my update from April 18).

Omnibus Tax Bill (HF 3149): The bill agreed upon by the tax conference committee over the weekend increase aid to cities by $55 million and to counties by $27 million. It also imposes levy limits on cities and counties beginning in 2009, but only if the increases in aid go into effect. The bill also includes a provision raising the limit on the amount that Anoka County can bond for library buildings.

Omnibus Budget Bill (HF 1812): The bill cuts the general appropriation for MnSCU by $6.6 million per year and cuts the University of Minnesota by $5.2 million in FY 08 and 09 and by $7.7 million per year in the next biennium.

Omnibus Education Policy Bill (SF 3001): The education policy conference committee reached agreement last week, and the bill was passed on the House and Senate floors. The bill was presented to Governor Pawlenty on Friday. He has until midnight tonight to sign or veto the bill. He is expected to veto it. Provisions of interest in the final bill include the establishment of a technology task force that will develop statewide technology standards for schools and a provision changing the name of the Minnesota Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped to the Braille and Talking Book Library and allowing its advisory council to meet electronically. The provision in the Senate version of the bill allowing ELM access to public libraries that are not members of their regional library was not included in the conference committee agreement.