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Alright – so, only if I had a dime every time I testified against suspending kids from school, I might the next Jeff B. Soooo frustrating, we are hearing this bill again this session. This better be the year it passes. Below is my testimony in the Senate Education Cmte.

Minnesota Senate

Education Policy Committee

Chair – Sen. Kunesh

Thursday, January 25, 2023

Re: SF 0069 – Let’s keep students in the classroom

Dear Madam Chair and Members, many thanks for the opportunity to testify in support of this bill. First, I want to thank the author, Sen. Mann.

The first time I testified for this bill, Madam Chair you were a representative in the House. This bill has been introduced every session for years now. I am hoping this is the year that it is finally carried to the finish line.

My son who has autism was suspended by Bloomington School District on Thursday, May 3^rd – 2018 at 5:18pm. This was a traumatizing day for our family because my son did not understand suspension then and does not understand it now. His routine was disrupted this day and his communication device was denied to him. I will let EdAllies and other data experts tell you that black, brown, and students with disabilities are suspended disproportionately in Minnesota. And yes 2+2 is 4, not 3.5 and not 5. All of us, both democrats and republicans must accept data and facts. Otherwise, we live in la la land.

I often hear from the opposing side that suspension must be in their toolbox. For students with disabilities – the toolbox must have kindness, compassion, empathy, knowledge, training, and most of all human decency, not suspension. These are children who are in a special classroom. The adults who chose this profession need to understand the child’s needs, behaviors, and disabilities. In other words, you cannot be a chef and then complain because you smell like food. You cannot be a pilot and be of heights.

I suggest that if school districts want suspension in their toolbox, perhaps not getting funded while the student is suspended should also be in this toolbox. Why are school districts getting paid for work they are not doing. The money should follow the student, not the district.

Imagine working for 3 days yet getting paid for 5 days. This is what is happening now in school districts. They are still funded even though our kids are kicked out. How is this fair, cost-effective nor humane.

Finally, just because you have been lucky enough that your child has not experienced this horrifying event, does not mean your fellow Minnesotans have not. Please do not deny our pain and our experience. We need to pass this bill now.

Sincerely,

Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

Alright – so, will this be the year this bill finally passes and gets a ring. We will see. Below is my testimony in its first hearing in the Education Policy committee in the House.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Education Policy Committee

Chair Rep. Pryor

Wednesday, January 18, 2023 – 3pm

Re: Supporting bill# HF-58, Prohibiting Suspensions up to 3^rd grade

Dear Madam Chair and Members, many thanks for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Idil Abdull; I am a Somali Autism Mom & a tired pissed-off advocate.

First, I want to thank Rep. Richardson for her focus and tenacity on this issue.

Emotional trauma is the end result of events or experiences that leave us feeling deeply unsafe and often helpless. It can result from a single event or be part of an ongoing experience. For black and brown families in public school districts, trauma is often based on events that are grounded in bias and discrimination. No human should experience trauma even once.

This committee has traumatized me for years because each time I testify and restate what happened to my child in Jefferson high school, I am traumatized. My son has nonverbal autism, did not understand suspension then, and does not understand it now. Yet, teacher Kelly Morris who is protected by the teacher’s union, and principal Jaysen Anderson who is protected by lobbyists and associations suspended him on Thursday, May 3^rd, 2018, at 5:18pm. In fact, they make more money and have higher positions than they did in 2018. There is absolutely no meat off their bones.

Do you know how this makes me and other similarly situated parents feel? It makes me feel helpless and unappreciated.

It is not lost on me and should not be lost on you that no DFLer can be in control without the vote of black and brown folks. Yet, our children are failing in school and getting suspended disproportionately. Why? I want you to think about that.

We are watching you this year as there is no one else to blame, you control all three government branches now.

In Somalia, we say; Aqoon la’aan waa iftiin la’aan. While it loses its poetic meaning, in a nutshell, it means – education is the sight, smell, and sound of life, prosperity, and success. Our children are being denied this fundamental human right to life and success.

I am cautiously optimistic that this year you will finally put a ring on this suspension bill and carry it to the finish line. Here is the hearing via YouTube if you wanna watch it.  Rep. Richardson, You rock!

Thanks

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil

Alright – so, if you read my blog or know me then you understand why I am not a big fan of MN DFLers – not all of them. Since I started autism advocacy over 15 years ago, the seeds of our support have been the GOP’s. We started with Gov Pawlenty then to at least one body was controlled by the Republicans. Well, there was those couple of years when the dflers controlled all three branches of Minnesota Government during Dayton’s administration. Those were some tough times. It seems we are back to that, ok maybe worse because Walz is horrible. At least Dayton was fair, but his gatekeepers, particularly Tina Smith was yuky.

I have no idea why we in minority communities cannot learn to use our voices and votes wisely. We just vote and then go to sleep. We do not hold them accountable, we do not ask for any significant policy changes, and we certainly do not make sure their staff reflects us. So depressing. I am still in a state of shock at how Walz and Angie Craig won. Seriously, what the heck.

Under Walz, our kids have failed in schools, and our students have been suspended and kicked out disproportionately by the unions he supports and protects. Black and brown health disparities have not decreased. Black and brown providers have been screwed with by DHS. Black and brown employees have been fired and retaliated against by his administration, particularly DHS. Yet we hire him again, what the heck?

Insanity is voting for the same politicians and expecting different outcomes and policies. Walz has appointed judges and no one looks like us. He hired kazilian commissioners and no one looks like us, at least not one with a spine and backbone who fights for our needs, not just pander to him. When will we learn. Craig has completely ignored our needs willingly and purposefully. When will we learn. They always hire our highly educated and qualified people as useless….wait for it… it is original…. not really —- that is right – outreach coordinator. This is an offensive title and simply means getting them more minority votes. When will we learn. Equally important when will the other side learn that if they don’t approach and campaign hard in minority communities, they will keep losing with mere few thousand votes.

You can see here who won and who lost by how much. Craig won by a little over 17,000 votes. Imagine, if her opponent – Kistner connected with black and brown voters in the 2nd district. I think he would’ve won. GOPs will not win if they do not learn how to authentically court and engage with black and brown voters. Walz won by a little less than 193,000. That can seem a lot, but imagine how many black, brown, and underserved communities are here. Any city, district, and county where dflers control in Minnesota and even nationally, we are at the bottom of the pit from education to housing to you name it, yet we keep hiring the same people.

The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

Alright – so, a few weeks ago, the Somali community and Minnesota Republican Party held an event to sort of meet and greet. I say it is about time. Actually, there were a few events prior to this one. I know I attended one years back put together by Murshid Barud and Sen. Hann who is currently the MN GOP Chair. What a small world. If you can believe it, I advocated with Sen. Hann and Rep. Abeler to fund autism research that looked into how Somalis and other minorities access services.

Sen, Dr. Jensen (God Willing, Next MN Governor), his Lt Gov, and others who are running for state offices attended. It was jam-packed, well attended to the tune of hundreds, and watched by over sixty-five thousand on social media. I know what the heck is happening. Maybe finally maybe, Somalis in Minnesota are realizing how DFLers take our votes for granted. Yay!

I for one have been preaching for years that we need to learn to negotiate with our voices. We need to be issue-based and not just believe the hype of the MN dflers. Yes, I know a Minn dfler can sell water to a drowning minority person. Think about it, if the dflers in Minn (not all of them) are so good then why are our children failing and getting kicked out of school. I will tell you. They unapologetically align with the teacher’s unions instead of students and families. How many Somali judges did Gov Walz appoint? Nada, zilch, and zip. How many Somalis work in his administration such as DHS, MDE, and MDH in a position of power and influence? nada, zilch, and zip. Ugh, so depressing. How many Somalis work in his office as policy advisers? you guessed it; zilch and zip.

In other words, insanity is voting for the same politicians and expecting different policies. We can’t vote for Walz again. I obviously only care and understand about autism. His health administration has done zero autism research. His education dept constantly sides with teacher’s unions instead of our kids. They want to decrease and eliminate charter schools by cutting their funding. Do not believe the one Minn hoax ads. When the rubber needs to meet the road, Walz is full of flash and no substance.

At any rate, I wish at this highly attended event, we also negotiated our voices with the MN hopeful GOP leaders. We should’ve had points and issues we need addressing if we vote for them. Sadly, we did not and non of them told us what they will do differently if elected. I guess this is a good step in the right direction. Next time, we have to put the hype Patton down and get to the hustle and gritty work. If I planned this, I would’ve asked the following:

1. Will your health department do autism research? The last study was done by Gov Pawlenty.
2. Will your administration reflect us in positions of meaning and influence, not just coordinator and outreach yucky positions?
3. Will you appoint Somali lawyers (there are lots now, yay!) to be judges when the opportunity arises?
4. Will you fund the Minn Dept of Human Rights fully as other state agencies are funded?
5. Will you support charter schools to be funded fully and hold teachers and principals accountable when they fail students and create discipline disparities?
6. Will you ensure DHS hires diverse staff in middle management to ensure providers are treated fairly? This is not happening now.
7. Will you recognize disparity exists and vow to eliminate it in education, health, employment, and economic opportunities? if yes, what is your plan for this?
8. Will you ensure Minn Dept of Public Safety (DPS) leadership and state troopers reflect the state and get diversified?
9. Yes, law and order are necessary for a civilized state/country, but can you understand the high disparity created by law enforcement. If yes, what is your plan to address this so that the justice system is fair for everyone irrespective of race, color, ethnicity, religion, etc.?
10. What else can you add that you think Gov Walz is not doing now that you will do for our community?

I read Jensen’s plan and it looks good. I would however take out the portion in his education plan that villainizes students with disabilities whose disability is a behavior disorder which includes autism. Sen. Chamberlain had this bill this legislative session, and I have testified against it along with sooooo many parents. We can not punish kids for their disabilities. That is inhumane. Luckily, it did not pass in the end. Yes, all parents want safe schools. This is possible without punishing students with behavior disorders and a disability. I would add any school district that has a high education gap/discipline disparities must use a percentage of its funding for training. Additionally, equity and equality can not be taken out from anywhere in this state or this country. If that is not constantly pushed and enhanced, black, brown folks, and even women would suffer.

The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

Alright – so, let’s make one thing clear. No dfler can win any local, statewide or national election without the votes of black and brown people. What does this mean exactly? It means we are the ones giving them the power to help or screw with us. So ask yourself this question when Gov Walz was running for governor 4 years ago, what did he promise black and brown voters?

1. Has he accomplished them?
2. Did he hire people who look like us in a position of authority and influence in his administration?
3. has that produced fruitful results in policy and prosperity?

I say no, no, and heck no. Here are the reasons.

First, he ran on one Minnesota, I call it one Minnesota hoax. He promised our kids will stay in school, not fail, and not be kicked out. Has he done that? Nope. Fact, every year he has put non-exclusionary methods before a kid is kicked out of school in his education bill, but his office never pushed it – ever. They always sided with the teacher’s union (aka today’s modernized mafia). It is the teacher who fails our kids and creates Minnesota to have the worst education gap for black, brown, and Native American students. Nothing happens to those teachers. No one holds them accountable, fires them, or even disciplines them. Over 95% of Minn teachers are white which means they do not reflect us. Oh and, he is against charter schools. There are so many Somali and other minority charter schools. Yep, if Walz wins again, we can kiss those goodbyes. He will decrease their funding drastically. We take our kids to charter schools after districts fail them. I took my son to a charter school in Minneapolis after the Bloomington school district suspended him.

2nd question – did he hire black and brown folks. Yes, but only for community outreach, community liaison, outreach coordinator, and my favorite senior community engagement & outreach coordinator. This is when they add all of the pretty words to make the person think he/she has an important job. They only use them to get more votes. Can’t our people be just regular – oh I don’t know policy adviser, director, manager, and so on and so forth? No to MN Dflers. Has he hired all of the black and brown campaign helpers who helped him win? heck no. They (MN dlfers) never do. If you get data from his office and see the make-up of his staff, you will notice most of his senior-level staff were in his campaign. You will also notice any black/brown person is just a community engagement coordinator. Seriously, if I see another black and brown highly educated and experienced person with these stupid and useless titles, I am going to scream.

3. The 2 black and brown folks he hired as commissioners or maybe asst comm, have they produced fruitful policies and prosperity? Well – ask yourself. I would say no because they are usually the go-along-to-get-along ones. Anyone with a spine and a backbone in this administration has been fired and scolded. For example, DHS has fired more black and brown people under Gov Walz than in the last 3 prev administrations combined. That is not an accident.

Now, this is the amusing (Jay Leno) and funny part. His office has been holding what they are calling “Focus on Black Minnesotans” zoom meetings. They break them into several categories such as education, health, home ownership, employment, etc. I have attended the ones that I thought related to autism. The education commissioner and her all-white staff told us years-old numbers from the Dayton administration that said – yeah it is true Minnesota has horrible racial disparities for black and brown students and students with disabilities. Shocker! Not really. You see that is old, old, old data. What has Walz done about these school districts? he went to sleep. He did not fund his human rights department to sue their ass off, he did not propose policies to take funds away such as not getting the funds for the kids they kick out. He did nada, nothing, zip, zero. Then he has the nerve to come back and give us the same data and pretend he cares. Are you bleeping kidding me. Anyone who believes this then please go back to living under the same rock.

Then his health department (you know the do nothing about autism agency) talked in another zoom meeting. They said black babies are not doing well, black mothers are suffering, black people are struggling with health issues. What in Minn? come on? It is like some white clueless dude telling us we are black or it snows in Minn. We already know this. What has MDH done in this area? Lunch on me for anyone who can say Walz put funding in his MDH budget for the last 4 years to address these health disparities. Remember, the highly educated Somali doctor from Mayo applied to work at MDH. He was interviewed by Commissioner Jan M a hundred times. She did not hire him. Yet, this woman hired Dan Pollock – you know the white lawyer who knew nothing about health. Oh please. I dare anyone to tell me this is not pure racism. You remember years ago under MDH’s prev commissioner Ehlinger and the elderly issues they had. Wait for it…..This will show you how Minn dflers screw with black and brown Minnesotans. Anyway, Dan P was there at MDH and everyone fled MDH after that including the commissioner. Guess where they hired Dan P at? waaiiiiit. DHS hires him and puts him in charge of the elderly. Imagine a black or brown person in charge of the elderly and things going so bad. That person would’ve become the scapegoat. Not in MN DFL land. They just re-shuffle their cousins. I knew Pollock when he was just a committee administrator for Rep Huntley who chaired the health and human services committee in MN House. Oh man, he was sooooooo against us. Huntley wanted to subsidize with millions of dollars for private insurance companies to cover autism therapy.

I remember one vivid conversation with Dan P during the conference committee. If you know state legislature procedures then you have seen the conference committee is like an African meat market. It is do or die. It is the wild card. You never know what the conferees will do and it is final. Pollock says to me if I convinced the Senate to take their language then next year they will help low-income autism families. I did the opposite. The senate was majority democrat at that time. Sen. Linda Berglin was the chair of the health and human services committee. Now, that was one good dfler. She called it from the hip, knew health legislation better than everyone in her head, and can shred anyone into small pieces with facts and data. I met her Sen. Berglin in a restaurant in Mpls and told her all about our autism advocacy, our struggles, and our needs. She was so kind and receptive. Long story short, she killed Huntley House version. She did it with sheer Berglin style and in your face. I remember, I sat on the floor in case we lost and I fainted or something, I wanted to be close to the floor. I closed my eyes and listened to their votes. I remember it like it was yesterday. After we won and the house’s stupid and discriminatory version that Pollock drafted was voted out, I looked at the Star Tribune’s reporter Warren Wolf whom I begged to do the story and breathed with a sigh of relief. You get a kind of a high that probably one could not get from any drug when you win in a conference committee. There is no better feeling. Sorry, I got off track here. My point is that guy is now at DHS in charge of EIDBI. How do you like them apples?

Then it was DHS’ turn and we were told all of the things happening in the human services. Well, actually they left out how DHS goes after providers of color for sneezing the wrong way, while white providers who take millions of dollars are never mentioned.

Finally, they asked us what would we like Gov Walz to put in his 2023 budget? what? how presumptuous of him. Of course, I told them what I would like in the 2023 budget is for Walz to lose the election.

Where the heck has he been the last four years? The audacity of Gov Walz asking black and brown people to hire him again and this time he will help us. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me another election, shame on us. 

Black and brown folks will always be at the bottom of every pit unless we vote differently, we learn how to negotiate with our voices and we hold them accountable for what they did, not what they will do the second time. It is like an abusive husband who beats his wife but says come on – baby, give me another chance and I will not beat you up this time. If you know the answer to that question then you know how to vote this election cycle. We need to vote out Gov Walz – one Minn hoax.

The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

Alright – so, ever since my son with autism who does not understand what suspension is was suspended by union-protected teacher Kelly Morris and lobbyist-protected principal Jaysen Anderson; I have been trying to advocate this issue. The key word is “trying”. I have testified in every education committee in both the Minnesota house and senate. I have contacted more legislators than I can count including the committee chairs. I have spoken and sat through committees. And, I am sad to report, nada has been accomplished.

This happened back in 2018 on a Thursday afternoon at 5:18pm in May. I remember this date and time like it was yesterday. It has left a white stain on my heart, brain, and soul. I am not going to repeat in this blog my journey in this area as I have written and posted my testimonies here. I will simply say neither political party gives a flying hoot about keeping our children in the classroom. To the democrats, it is a show and to the republicans – well they don’t even think this is a problem.

In light of the above; I contacted the superintendent of Bloomington – Dr. Eric M. I knew Eric way back when he was the director of special education. He and I have a long history through mediation, conciliation, courts, and so on and so forth. For some reason, we have always been able to come to a compromise. Clearly, I am not a big fan of this district, but I found Eric to be reasonable and apologize when the district was in the wrong. In fact, one time we were in front of an education judge and Eric made sure the teacher apologized for what she did to my kid and like magic, I dropped the case. You see it is not always about winning, losing, or even lawsuits. It is owning mistakes and correcting them.

Anyway, to make a long history short, I reached out to Eric with an olive branch about this suspension and requested a meeting. He and I met and had a long chat. I also asked to meet with the principal – Jaysen who is the person that sent me the email suspending my kid four years ago in 2018. I met with Jaysen and Eric on May 3rd, 2022 – four years later to the date.

In summary, I believe the principal and the superintendent know suspending my kid did no good for anyone, and did not hold any educational value. I asked the principal if he had any remorse and what he now does differently. He replied – yes and that he pays attention to how and who he suspends to make sure it makes sense and the parents are involved.

So, I am done; that was good enough for me. The teacher – Kelly, I did not ask to speak with her even though Eric offered. I am too hurt to face her. I trusted her with my child and she failed him and me. While it was the principal who sent me the suspension email, it was the teacher who denied my kid his communication device which is essentially his voice, disrupted his daily routine, and subsequently called the principal on him. I don’t know if I ever will forget or even forgive her but I am at peace with the principal and the superintendent. For what it is worth, both the principal and the teacher make more money than they did in 2018, and the district got more money in 2022 than it did in 2018. In other words, as I have said in my kazilian testimonies there are no consequences for school districts to not kick our kids out – period.

In terms of the school board; I have been able to help and campaign several of them newly elected ones. Sadly, they are no different. I think I still would like to make sure Dawn S loses and will try to get her voted out. Their board has one minority member who incidentally also apologized to me for what they did to my kid and even testified in the senate for a bill that would’ve banned suspension which did not pass last year. I wish there were more black and brown people running for school board in Bloomington. I am sure we will get there. For now, this is good enough for me. I will not be going back to that exhausting state capitol and testifying in education committees as that has not produced any fruits. I may try at the federal level and maybe see if I can get a congressperson to amend the IDEA law by adding one line next to the 10-day rule before manifestation determination kicks in.

I am just tired of this now. I think I will take a break for now in this area.

The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

Alright – so, if you read my blog then you know, I am not a big fan of any county. There is no good county at all. I came across Dakota county recently after a couple of autism families asked me to help them. Actually, I advocated for an autism mom, maybe a couple of years ago. She had to go to Minn Disability Law Center to get adequate support and resources from this county.

I have seen many counties that have biased and/or racist low-level staff. Usually, when I contact the commissioners or the director, things move a bit smoother, not Dakota. Top to bottom and bottom to top from their county commissioners to the receptionist and vice versa – they are all bad to the bone. I mean BAAAAAAAAD as in cold, heartless, useless, arrogant, ignorant, malicious, and cold. Did I say cold?

I wanted to know why so I looked into their county commissioners. Remember State Rep Halverson and Atkins? Well, let me remind you. They both voted against EIDBI. Well, actually back then we were not calling it EIDBI. It was simply asking state legislators that Medicaid covers autism therapy for low-income autism families. Yep, these two yukies voted against that. They also voted to dismantle the state autism task force we had back then.

Now, they did not win in either bill. Eventually, we (autism parents) won. But these two are now Dakota county commissioners. Imagine the level of bias and heartless crap flowing through there now. The commissioner that is in charge of the families I have been trying to advocate for live under Liz W. She is even worse than they are. Akhhhh.

This is why we need to diversify county commissioners. They hold so much power and are as ice as Minnesota snow. I remember Atkins when he was a chair in the House. I testified against a bill that wanted to only help autism families with private insurance while low-income autism families with Medicaid were thrown under the bus. He was as cold, rude, and heartless back then as he is a county commissioner. Why do we keep voting for these people. Insanity is voting for the same politicians and expecting different results.

The question of at least the funding and support this county refuses to provide to autism families needs to be addressed by DHS and/or CMS. This county needs to be held accountable for neglecting and screwing with autism families which is never acceptable and should never be tolerated.

The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

Alright – so, this is the final do-or-die part of this year’s legislation. The Senate and House chairs and members are meeting in what is called conference committees. I have testified in the Education Conference Committee in what will probably be the last time we are able to testify. Below is my testimony. Fingers crossed that this bill will pass this year!

Minnesota Senate & House

Education Conference Committee

Chairs: Sen. Chamberlain and Rep. Davnie

May 13^th, 2022

      Re: Keeping children in the classroom and in school; K-3 Suspension

Dear Chair Chamberlain, Davnie, and conferees,

Many thanks again for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Idil Abdull; I am a Somali autism mom and advocate.

First, I would like to thank Rep. Richardson for her relentless focus and tenacity in this issue. I come before you today to ask to keep students in the classroom to learn. I know that you all want children to succeed in school. We all want to eliminate Minnesota’s shameful education gap.

It is humanly impossible for any student to learn when they are not in school. I understand the administrators’ and principals’ perspectives in wanting to have suspension in their toolbox. I also understand teachers not being equipped to handle and just go for the low-hanging fruit which is kicking the kid out of their learning environment.

I want you all to understand these are the needs of adults. And, yes, we should support and provide needed resources to all educators, but we must, and we shall put students first. After all, education is about students, not adults who chose this profession.

What Richardson is asking is to keep young minds in the classroom to learn. These are 5- and 6-year-olds. They are babies. If we cannot come up with creative ways to teach children and help them when they make mistakes, what does that say about us?

I respectfully ask you all to put students first and above everyone. Please negotiate and find some common ground on this issue.

Thanks much as always and I look forward to a fruitful outcome this legislative session.

Idil Abdull

Alright – so, if you read my blog or know me, then you understand why I am not a big fan of any union most of all teacher’s union. Why? unions are good, right. Yes, if they are reasonable and protect the worker from big badass corporations. In the education system, this is not the case. Education Minnesota represents thousands of teachers who suspend and fail our kids with no accountability. Teachers are the people who refer the student to be suspended not the principal. The principal pushes the kid off the ledge, but the teacher is the person who puts the child on the suspension ledge. You dig? 

At any rate, Rep. Richardson has a bill that essentially would keep kids up to 3rd grade in the classroom, and wait for it…..drum roll pls……..teacher’s union (aka Education Minnesota) has finally supported it. No, not behind the scenes but with action. They actually sent someone to testify in support of this bill. Wow, I must be drunk or hell has frozen. Ok – kidding I do not drink, not yet. Kidding again. And, the bonus…more drum roll pls…….Commissioner of Minnesota Department of Education and their government relations person also testified in support of keeping kids in school. This better not be an election year hoax from the democrats.  

To those that may not yet understand the state legislative process. This language is now included in the big education omnibus bill which has the kitchen sink from the democrats in the house and the republicans in the senate. Then there will be what is called conference committee members. They will meet publicly and sometimes off the record to negotiate what ends up in the final bill that passes the conference committee. Finally, the governor signs it and that is how ladies and gentlemen laws are created.

Below is my testimony. 

Minnesota House of Representatives

Education Finance Committee

Chair: Davnie

March 31, 2022        

Re: HF 3401 – Keeping children in the classroom to learn 

Dear Mr. Chair and Members,

Many thanks again for the opportunity to testify for keeping young students and all students for that matter in the classroom. First, I want to thank the author of this bill – Rep. Richardson for her tireless leadership in education and equity.

I understand the principals do not support this bill, but I want to emphasize the principal is not the person who is in the classroom and refers the child to be suspended, it is the teacher. So, if the teachers support this language and want to keep kids in the classroom to learn then please do it. The teachers are the ones who are choosing to refer our kids to the principal’s office. The principal mostly agrees with the teacher and does the actual suspension.

I say this because often in politics we concentrate on what divides us, but in this case, the principals and the teachers are one in the same.

Mr. Chair, I humbly ask you to carry the suspension language this legislative session to the finish line. Please do not allow it to fall off during the conference committee negotiations.

To legislators who say, there are laws against racial discrimination. Yes, you are right – it is illegal to discriminate against any student because of their color or disability. So, then what is the problem? Why do we have un-even numbers when the behaviors are the same but the color and/or disability status of the student is different?

Mr. Chair and Member, you see, discrimination does not happen blatantly like George Wallace’s days of segregation today, tomorrow, and forever. It happens in subtle manners that are extremely hard to prove in courts even when factual numbers are clear. Let me give you an example:

A white female teacher can have two students of the same age, same height, same weight, same grade, even same disability; the only thing different is one is black, and one is white. When they display the same behaviors – the white teacher sees the black child’s behavior more severely than the white one. Why? Because from her lenses, from her experience, from her background, from her world – she is able to relate to the white kid. This is not right or wrong. It is actually human. We all can relate to those that we have experience with better and more comfortable.

My airport story with my kid with two different people in a similarly situated situation is the perfect example of how we as humans relate to those that we have something in common with. (I will tell this story if I am allowed as it may take another minute or so).

In summary, I commend what Rep. Richardson is trying to do which is leveling the playing education field so that every child has the same opportunity to learn and there is no room for unconscious biases. I applaud her for that and hope that you are able to agree and support this legislation.

Thanks as always!

Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom & Advocate

The above words do not reflect any committee, agency, or candidate.

Idil – Autism Mom

Alright – so, ever since my son was suspended by the union-protected teacher, Kelly Morris, and lobbyist-protected principal Jaysen from Bloomington school district, I have been advocating for a law that would prevent them from doing it to another kid. Rep. Richardson who chairs the MN House of Reps Education Policy committee has been a champion in this issue. She was able to pass pre-K suspension ban legislation a couple of years ago. Richardson has another bill this year – HF 951 which will prohibit K to 3rd-grade kids to be kicked out of school. It will have a hearing tomorrow in the Education Finance committee chaired by Rep. Davnie. Below is my written testimony. I plan to testify orally as well.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2018, 5:18pm @neverforget.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Education Finance Committee

Chair – Rep. Davnie

March 23, 2022

Re: HF 951, Keeping K to 3rd-grade students in the classroom and teaching them

Dear Mr. Chair and Members,

Many thanks for the opportunity to testify today in support of this important legislation. I want to thank Rep. Richardson for her focus and tenacity in our children’s education.

This is a political body, and I would like to speak to you as such.

• I want to say to all of the legislators in this committee that Minnesota has the only divided legislative body in the country. What this means is that your voters have mandated you to work together and get along for the benefit of all your constituents.
• I want to say to the Democrats – you control two of the government bodies here which means you slightly have the upper hand. You have been supporting this bill from last year and this year, but you have got to come out stronger by saying what you mean and meaning what you say.
• You must get Education Minnesota and the teachers to support this bill with no reservation. You know that black and brown voters have supported you. Now it is your turn to support their children and ensure they are kept in the classroom to learn and be nurtured. I respectfully and humbly ask you to carry this bill to the finish line and not let it become a casualty during the conference committee hearings.
• Now to the Republican legislators – yes, the principals and administrators need to have a toolbox at their disposal. Kicking young students out of school does not have to be a tool in the box. Maybe this toolbox can have compassion, competency, and kindness
• Finally, I know you are aware that racism and discrimination exist in the education system and elsewhere. It was Sen. Coleman who first helped us, Somali autism families, back over a decade ago when we were advocating for autism awareness in our community. It was Abeler and Hann who helped us with DHS’ inequalities and ensured Medicaid covered autism therapy. Please help us now with the education gap by keeping the kids in school so that they can learn and prosper.

I beg all of you in this committee to validate parents’ pain and children’s despair by standing with us, for us, and by us. Please support HF 951 this year like your life depended on it because it does.

I thank you for your time and listening as always

Idil Abdull