Expect a thorough discussion this session, especially in the House Property Tax Committee, on converting school capital levies tax base from Adjusted Net Tax Capacity to Referendum Market Value. Adjusted Net Tax Capacity (ANTC) includes all agricultural production land and seasonal and recreational property. Referendum Market Value (RMV) excludes agricultural land and seasonal and recreational. MREA has connected with a … Read More
MREA Releases Map on Household Income By Minnesota School Districts
MREA released a map today illustrating median household income by school district in Minnesota. The map reveals a wide rural-metro divide with the state’s wealthiest district’s median income more than five times the amount of the poorest district. Nine of the 12 districts with the lowest median household income in Minnesota serve a significant number of American Indian children. The … Read More
State Legislature: Open for the People’s Business
By Sam Walseth, MREA Director of Legislative Affairs The 2015 session is officially underway. While the odd-numbered year, budget-setting session starts off slowly, it will pick up steam and go by very quickly. The legislature will be dividing up limited pots of money before we know it. View the first set of bills introduced in the House and the Senate. … Read More
Priorities Outlined in First Bills Introduced in Minnesota Senate, House
The Minnesota Legislature convened this week and is moving beyond the ceremonial nods to get to work. The majority party in both bodies of the legislature always makes sure that the first handful of bill introductions (i.e. SF 1-6 and HF 1-5) outline their caucus’ priorities for the session. Both the Senate and House majorities did that Thursday morning. Senate Bills … Read More
MREA Testifies Before Senate E-12 on Key Issues
The newly merged Senate E-12 & Policy committee met last Thursday and took testimony from about 30 different organizations representing a wide variety of education interests. MREA Director of Legislative ActionSam Walseth was among the first to testify and asked the committee to go big on an E-12 investment this year. Walseth noted the budget forecast indicates that Health & … Read More
89th Minnesota Legislature Convenes Tuesday
By Sam Walseth, MREA Legislative Affairs Director The Minnesota Legislature at noon on Tuesday will convene their first meeting of the 2015-16 biennial session. Tuesday’s session is a ceremonial day and includes a swearing in of the House members as they accept their election certificates after winning in the November election. The Senate will also convene the new session, but … Read More
MREA to Host Meeting on Donut Hole Funding Inequity
MREA districts are invited to attend an information meeting on the “donut hole” on Jan. 16 during the MSBA Leadership Conference in Minneapolis. This meeting aims to discuss the issue with affected districts and prioritize ideas on ways to create equity in the Minnesota K-12 education funding system. The donut hole describes the funding gap between Small Schools Revenue and Location … Read More
Legislative Platform Adopted at Annual Meeting
By Sam Walseth, Director of Legislative Affairs After months of gathering input and feedback from member districts, MREA approved a legislative platform for 2014 and beyond at the annual meeting held at the Annual Conference on November 19. The 2014 platform includes ongoing issues and some new ones stemming from the 2013 E-12 and Tax omnibus bills. The 2013 session produced huge … Read More
MREA Seeks Platform Approval at Conference
Thank you to MREA members who contributed to the platform formation at the Area Meetings in August and September. The facts and situations shared shaped the drafting of MREA’s 2014 platform. Two of the key areas raised by members during the meetings and being formulated in the platform include teacher quality and availability, and expanding education opportunities and closing the … Read More
Fixing the “Donut Hole” Inequity: Advocacy 101
By Sam Walseth, MREA Lobbyist School officials from around Greater Minnesota are fast becoming familiar with the term “donut hole” and what it means for 132 districts and their 147,000 students in this state. For those who aren’t yet aware, the “donut hole” makes up about a third of the state’s districts who don’t qualify for either the Small Schools … Read More