By T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

The Minnesota Attorney Generalís office opined on Tuesday, Aug. 15, that the Department of Education broke state law in its handling of student test data. The department sees it differently.

ìI frankly think itís political-ly motivated,î said Education Commissioner Alice Seagren of the opinion.

At issue is the departmentís encouragement to school districts to opt to delay the release of academic performance data until Nov. 15 ñ after the Nov. 7 election.

Without appealing for a delay, the academic performance data would be released by the department on Sept. 1.

But in an Aug. 3 letter to school district officials, the department of education encouraged them to submit an appeal delaying the performance data release.

About 200 of the stateís 343 school districts have filed an appeal.

Seagren explained her department encouraged school districts to appeal for more time because 14 new tests were used for student assessments and that working through the first-time data would take additional time.

ìWeíre not trying to hide test scores,î said Seagren.

ìI donít think theyíll be any real surprises when the data is released,î she said.

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But Seagren noted that generally with new tests, student tests scores will be lower ñ the department has cited that outcome in the past, she explained.

School districts, which re-ceived their preliminary test results in early August and their Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) report on Tuesday ñ reports born of federal No Child Left Behind law ñ can release their performance data at any time, according to the department.

In the past, the release of the AYP results has been a major political event.

Last year, Gov. Tim Pawlenty heralded the release at a press conference in the Education Building at the Minnesota State Fair.

But the attorney generalís office gives the Department of Education a failing grade on its handling the test score data.

During an exchange of curt letters on Tuesday with the department, Chief Deputy Attorney General Kristine Eiden argued the department encouraged school districts to appeal their performance designations even before they knew what they were.

Current state law does not authorize the department to solicit appeals from school districts, she argued.

Attorney General and DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch depicted the action as an attempt to get around state law.

ìJust disclose the data,î said Hatch, arguing parents needed to know the information in order to make good decisions on where to send their children to school.

He dismissed the idea his officeís opinions were politically driven.

ìMy letter to her (Seagren) political ñ no,î he said.

Heís not the one encouraging school districts to appeal, he explained.

The attorney generalís office began looking into the departmentís handling of test data after being contacted by school officials, explained Hatch.

The Department of Educa-
tion argued the attorney generalís officeís revealed a factual and legal misunder-standing of state law in its opinions.

Seagren believes department staff will finish their work on appealed designations by Nov. 15.

Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, House Education and Policy Reform Committee member, commended the Department of Education ìfor being sensi-ble for onceî in encouraging school district to appeal. He praised Seagren as someone who isnít steered by politics.