StudentsFirst, a national ‘education reform’ organization founded by Michelle Rhee, formerly Superintendent of Washington DC Public Schools, has issued report cards on all 50 states. StudentsFirst gave Minnesota a D in educational policies. MREA profiled StudentsFirst this past summer. Joe Nathan, a long time Minnesota education reformer and charter advocate, described Rhee as “blunt, controversial, and … sometimes wrong” in … Read More
Who’s Behind the Minnesota Education Bill
Minnesota’s 88th legislature will be sworn in Tuesday at noon in what is traditionally ceremonial day with family at the Capitol. Major spending and policy decisions await the new legislature, but the first few weeks of session will start out slow. But soon the omnibus education bill will take center stage. The Senate E-12 Budget Division is responsible for producing the … Read More
Legislative Session Kicks Off: Players to Know
Politics is driven by personality as much as policy, if not more. This session a new cast of characters will take over the four major leadership roles within the legislature. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, a union carpenter from Cook, will lead a newly invigorated Senate DFL majority. Sen. Bakk has 39 members of the 67-member body, several of them newly elected … Read More
NEW REPORT: Is rural Minnesota losing policy-making clout?
A new report from the Center for Rural Policy and Development argues that rural Minnesota is losing its voice in the public policy decision making process. While the report is focused primarily on economic development rather than education, its analysis of the issues facing rural Minnesota and advocacy for rural Minnesota (pp. 4-8) have parallels for K-12 and post-secondary education. The following … Read More
Rural Referenda Results
From the MSBA Boardcaster 12-28-2012: Referenda roundup: Hancock, Hills-Beaver Creek pass; three other districts come up short School districts went two-for-five in school bond referendum voting this week. Hancock and Hills-Beaver Creek voters approved their district’s referenda, while voters rejected measures in Mountain Lake, Rothsay and Rushford-Peterson. ■ Hancock: Voters approved a $5.4 million bond referendum by a 196-36 vote … Read More
Final Assessment & Accountability Report Released
The Assessment and Accountability Work Group, formed by the Minnesota Department of Education, released its final report. Assessment and Accountability for College and Career Readiness is recommended reading between now and when school resumes in January. The report lays out the context, 11 recommendations, and a summary of eight significant reports on HS-College transition for a major reform effort in Minnesota’s … Read More
Our Hearts Stopped for Connecticut
Our hearts stopped on Friday with the senseless killing of innocent children in Connecticut. We immediately thought of the safety of all children. Words don’t come easy during this time, but as school leaders we’re looked to by staff, parents and students. Commissioner Cassellius sent a message on Friday with some good resources on talking about the news with staff and communicating with … Read More
Gifted and Talented Annual Conference
The Minnesota Educators of Gifted and Talented will hold its annual conference, “Integrating Differentiation Across the Curriculum”, February 3-5 at Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd. Keynote speakers will be noted literacy expert, Susannah Richards, and differentiation specialist, Carolyn Coil. Many breakout sessions will be focusing on the needs of the gifted learner. For details and registration form, go to www.megt.org.
Fiscal Cliff Toolkit Released
AASA released a new report entitled Federal Public Education Revenues and the Sequester. In conjunction with the release of the report, AASA released its Fiscal Cliff Toolkit, a comprehensive set of resources that utilize this report and dataset to give educators and community leaders everything they need to make urge Congress to action, including background information on sequestration and the … Read More
U.S. Grad Rate Report Highlights Minnesota Achievement Gaps
A U.S. Department of Education report of four-year cohort graduation rates released in November shows a discouraging data related to the achievement gap. In Minnesota, American Indian students graduated at half the rate as White Non-Hispanic students, 42% compared to 84%, and African American (49%) and Hispanic (51%) students graduation rates were equally dismal. Gaps in Minnesota Graduation Rate for Graduating Class … Read More