State teaching board still failing on alternative teaching licenses

For the second time in a year, the state's Board of Teaching is under fire for failing to operate its alternative teacher licensing process.

On July 1, Ramsey County District Judge Shawn Bartsh found the state agency that licenses teachers in contempt of a previous court order for failing to let a plaintiff submit an application for an alternative teacher licensing pathway.

It comes after a December ruling that said the Board of Teaching broke the law when it didn't operate the process that licenses out-of-state teachers and those looking to expand licenses.

In 2008, the state Legislature developed a different way for teachers who hadn't completed a traditional program to get licensed through a process called licensure via portfolio.

More than 500 people were licensed until 2012, when the board stopped giving out alternative licenses.

A group of teachers began pushing back in an April 2015 suit, claiming that the Board of Teaching has been denying licenses arbitrarily for years.

In March, the legislative auditor's office called the teacher licensing system broken and pointed to large reforms as potential solutions. At a March hearing, the Board of Teaching and the Minnesota Department of Education said they would work to fix the process.

The court found the Board of Teaching did not allow Dobbert to submit an application for licensure via portfolio until after the motion was filed and didn't respond to her inquiries about applying using the process.

"The Court does not take the granting of sanctions lightly and would far have preferred Defendant to ­simply follow the law," the contempt order said.

It's rare that a state district court punishes a state agency, said Nathan Sellers, an attorney for plaintiffs, in an e-mail. The court ordered the Board of Teaching to pay Dobbert $250, attorneys' fees of about $6,800 and costs of approximately $100.

The Board of Teaching has appealed the order, saying teachers were injured from Bartsh's December ruling, and the result is expected in mid-August, said Rhyddid Watkins, an attorney for Dobbert and the other plaintiffs in the case.

Board of Teaching executive director Erin Doan said that the way teacher licensure activities have been governed and comprehended "has been muddied by confusing and conflicting statues and administrative rule." State law divides duties for the alternative process between the Board of Teaching and the Minnesota Department of Education.

The contempt order brought up the miscommunication between the Board of Teaching and the Department of Education which "resulted in Plaintiff Dobbert never being contacted regarding her application," according to the Board of Teaching at a May hearing.

The Board of Teaching declined to comment directly on the order because of pending litigation.

Watkins said he doesn't understand why the Board of Teaching is "so steadfastly refusing to follow the law."

"It's unfortunate for teachers and, more importantly, it's unfortunate for Minnesota students who are being deprived of the best qualified teachers," he said.

"This court's patience is at an end," Bartsh's contempt order said.