PELSB Origin
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PELSB (the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing Board) was created in 2017, replacing and taking over the duties of regulating teacher licensure that had been split between two separated agencies. The concept was pursued to simplify the bureaucratic structure as a way to increase the supply of teacher candidates. PELSB took over the former duties of both the "Board of Teaching" and the former licensure-training-related division of the MN Department of Education, as part of this authorized scheme to reorganize licensure and implement a tiered system (1-4) of licensure, which continues today.
The extensive documentation that led to the creation of PELSB affirms the purpose of the act creating PELSB was a constructive reorganization implementing the tiers system and qualification by portfolio (see the summary and full versions of the Report of the Office of the Legislative Auditor, which recommended the consolidation and changes upon which PELSB is based).
The Legislative Act that created PELSB was the 2017 Teacher Licensure Reform Act, which appropriately expresses the purpose and authorization. The discussion from Legislators in the public comment comment record discussed how the Legislature had not given PELSB the authority to engage in its activity, the details overwhelmingly supported this, as Education Standards of America uniquely reported as being clear cause for the invalidation of the changes to the pedagogy standards and the antiracism.
It is important to look at the 2017 Act, in this situation where the validity of the PELSB proposal (R-4615) depends on PELSB having specific authorization from the Legislature to engage in the specific rulemaking activity that it desires.
Perhaps, from the point of view of the members of PELSB, it would seem easier to cut the corners and not have asked the Legislature for authorization it wanted, and then, upon the George Floyd events that it describes as catalyzing its prioritization of CRTP, it all the more should have gone to the Legislature for authorization of the substantive licensure policy changes it desired, but PELSB did not.
One might say that PELSB preferred not to seek authorization for that which the Legislature would not have authorized--but this situation of politics is not trivially avoid--that is Constitutuionalism--without it government operations are invalid. This is unacceptable and the Courts must correct this Executive branch usurpation of power.
PELSB attended the authorized changes, but has recently wrongfully spun other actions forbidden by law (and otherwise performed illegally) for the purposes of implementing systemic CRT, which PELSB calls, "CRTP," "Culturally Responsive Teaching Principles." "CRTP" is not entirely the practice of pure CRT, it includes "intersection" with other woke concepts of identity including queer theory and theory, which are all implied by the PELSB use of the word "identity." The current PELSB proposal, Rulemaking # R-4615, would, in the words of PELSB, reorganize the whole of required teacher training as, "CRTP."
