MREA released a map today on family income and child poverty in Minnesota’s school districts by means of free and reduced lunch meals. Fifteen Greater Minnesota school districts have FRE percentages of 67 percent or more. A thumbnail is below. View the interactive map. Free & Reduced Meals Free and Reduced (FRE) meals are provided to families who qualify by … Read More
MREA Map of Referendum Market Value Shows Patterns in School District Wealth
MREA released a map showing patterns in Referendum Market Value by Residential Pupil Units as a measure of Minnesota school district property wealth in 2014. RMV/RPU is currently equalized in three tiers, which are shown in the thumbnail below. View the interactive map. Key Findings RMV/RPU has variation in property wealth across the state, but not as wide a variation as … Read More
Free Web Series to Address TDE Statute
The Minnesota Department of Education is offering free webinars on topics within the Teacher Development and Evaluation (TDE) process. Teacher leaders, administrators, or leadership teams can register for the topic(s) in which they are interested. These sessions will provide information, strategies and tools for TDE implementation and refinement and will last 20-40 minutes. Sessions run January and February, with the first session starting Tuesday, January 13. View … Read More
MREA Welcomes Gould to Legislative Team
MREA welcomes Joe Gould to its Legislative Action Team. Joe will be working alongside Sam Walseth, MREA Director of Legislative Action, at the Capitol on the issues that affect Greater Minnesota schools. Joe will be instrumental in helping MREA bring you news and its impact through the MREA website, email, Twitter (@mreavoice) and Facebook (facebook.com/greatermnstudents). “We have seen continued growth … Read More
Map Shows Impact of LOR Decision
MREA released a map today that illustrates inequity in school funding will go down dramatically over the next two years as a result of legislative, school board and voter decisions in 2013 and 2014. A thumbnail is below. View the interactive map. Fixing the Donut Hole The 2012 gap in funding between the 5th to 95th percentiles of school district reached 31.5 … Read More
Welcome to New Ed District Members
MREA is proud to be the Voice for Greater Minnesota Education and has actively worked the last few months to share the value of membership with schools and organizations who were not yet members. Our voice is being heard, as 12 Minnesota education districts joined MREA this fall after member approval at MREA’s 2014 Annual Meeting November 18 at Cragun’s Resort. Please join us … Read More
Visit MREA Booth at MSBA Conference
All MREA members attending the Minnesota School Boards Association’s (MSBA) 94th Annual Leadership Conference and Exhibit January 15-16 in Minneapolis are encouraged to stop by and visit MREA’s new membership booth. MREA is hosting Exhibitor Booth #620 and looks forward to meeting and greeting members from all around the state. The conference attracts over 2,000 school board members, superintendents, business managers, and school leaders, making … 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
Schock Receives Service Award
A respected educational leader in Central Minnesota, Rynell Schock has been dedicated to improving literacy instruction in local classrooms through research-based best practices and high quality professional development. As an education specialist at National Joint Power Alliance, Rynell provides leadership in instruction, assessment, curriculum, and student achievement impacting over 250 teachers. She has developed a series of new programs, including … Read More