Congratulations to these school board directors from MREA member schools who have been selected for the 2015 Minnesota School Board Association’s All-State School Board: Kris Abrahamson, Rockford Area Mary Eckhardt, Blue Earth Area Bernard Siebenaler, St. Charles Bill Tomhave, Moorhead Area MSBA will also recognize MREA member schools Dover-Eyota and St. Louis County school districts with the District Award of Distinction. This award is bestowed to … 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
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
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
Vacancies Announced for State Boards
The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State this week released the January 2015 notice of vacancies for various state boards, councils and committees. Minnesotans are encouraged to apply and serve in demonstration of public service. Application forms are available online and must be submitted by January 27, 2015, to be assured of full consideration by the appointing authority. Current education-related vacancies … Read More
Rural Education Well Represented on State Work Groups
by Fred Nolan, MREA Executive Director The 2014 legislature called for two Working Groups and Task Forces to meet between legislative sessions to make reports to the legislature regarding education-specific topics. There are now four active working groups at the state level with MREA representatives from throughout Minnesota providing voice for the needs of education in rural Minnesota. Testing Advisory Work Group … 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
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
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