If there was a remaining doubt in your mind about the Governor’s seriousness toward expanding universal four-year old preschool, check out his news release from Friday. It appears Governor Dayton has decided his legacy won’t just be all-day kindergarten but a wholesale expansion four-year-old preschool with an aim of making it a universal program in a few short years. Questions … Read More
Omnibus Education Policy Bills Advance
The Senate E12 Committee dug the Senate’s omnibus education bill, SF1495, last week. Along with several other items, the bill from Chairman Wiger would ease the requirement for teachers who have not passed the required basic skills test. They would be able to obtain up to four, rather than the current two, one-year temporary teaching licenses, and the bill requires a streamlined … Read More
Raise Voice on School Calendar Flexibility
With the late start to school next September, many local school districts have requested flexibility from their legislators for the next school year start date. Earlier Start More than 40 school districts have told MREA their school boards passed resolutions requesting the ability to start school before Labor Day in 2015. The Senate’s omnibus education policy bill (SF 1495) grants … Read More
Districts to Receive New AMI Education Funding
Governor Dayton dedicated a total of $14.8 million in his supplemental budget for new American Indian (AMI) educational support for the 2016-17 school year. Learn where AMI Students are in Minnesota MREA has learned that every school district, charter school, and BIA school that enrolls 20 or more AMI students will receive a base of $20,000 and a concentration factor of $405 … Read More
Governor Calls for Every Child in Preschool
ST. PAUL, MN – Minnesota could be among the first states in the country to offer free, full-day early learning programs for every four-year-old – if a proposal from Governor Mark Dayton and the Minnesota Senate becomes law this session. If passed, the proposal would allow an estimated 47,300 students to attend preschool in the program’s first year of operation. … Read More
School Readiness Programs Get Results
An array of research shows that providing students from low-income families the opportunity to attend a high quality pre-school program closes achievement gaps and offers extensive societal benefits. This has led to a growing interest among state policymakers to increase Minnesota’s investment in quality pre-K programming. Impressive Research Results The results from school readiness Pre-K programs are impressive. For example, data … Read More
LOR Equalization Leaves Out Poorest Districts
The equalization of Local Optional Revenue does not reach some of the poorest school districts in the state. The property wealth of school districts in the Central Lakes and Northeast Minnesota regions are among the highest in the state, and yet they have almost no relation to median income or Free and Reduced Lunch Percentages. In these 23 school districts the Referendum Market … Read More
House Reauthorization Stalls in Washington
The National Rural Education Advocacy Coalition (NREAC) in Washington reports that the House reauthorization has stalled. H.R. 5 is currently being held. Republican members are being pressured to vote against the bill, and Democrats are expected to oppose the bill as written. The Senate is still working on a bipartisan bill. The current schedule is to mark up the bill in committee the … Read More
ECFE Fund Transfers Permitted This Year
Many rural school districts are running up balances in Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) budgets and deficits in School Readiness budgets. For this fiscal year only, districts in this situation can request the Commissioner of Education to approve the transfer of funds from ECFE to School Readiness. Because both ECFE and School Readiness funds are “within” the Community Service Fund (Fund 4), these transfers … Read More
Gaining Support for Ag2School
MREA is gaining support for a facility fallout solution that would address the deferred maintenance funding inequities in Minnesota. The inequities between the Alternative Facility school districts (large metro primarily) and all others is well documented. Legislators of all stripes have at the tip of their tongue the $2.79 per square foot versus $0.58 per square foot differential in spending power … Read More