A needed boost for Minnesota schools

COVID-19 has created historically challenging times for Minnesota's E-12 education system.

The pandemic forced public schools to turn on a dime from in-school to remote learning. District leaders also suddenly had to provide student meals out of school while maintaining mostly empty buildings. And many experienced declining enrollment as families made other decisions for their children.

So the Minnesota Legislature's recently approved education finance package strikes a good balance for helping schools recover from the pandemic while maintaining needed programs and staff.

In May, the Democratic majority House and Republican controlled Senate were more than $600 million apart in their E-12 proposals. But they were able to agree during the special session that ended this week on adding $1.2 billion to the state's education budget over the next biennium. The biggest chunk of that funding will increase the per-pupil formula by 2.45% next year and 2% the following year.

Adding to the formula is the major accomplishment of the bill. Those funds give school districts the most discretion to use the money where they need it. And it's that part of the package that received the largest increase in the past 15 years.

The legislation also provides more support for hiring and recruiting teachers of color and Indigenous educators. A Star Tribune analysis has found that although about one-third of the state's kindergarten through 12th-grade students are nonwhite, teachers of color make up about 5% of full- and part-time teaching rosters. Research in recent years demonstrates that having more nonwhite teachers helps narrow achievement disparities between students of color and their white peers.

So the bill triples the existing spending on teacher-of-color recruitment and retention to about $13 million annually. Those funds will be spent on things such as district "grow your own'' programs and other recruitment, retention and mentorship strategies. As the Star Tribune Editorial Board previously argued, benefits of a more diverse staff can include inspiring students toward improved reading and math test scores, better graduation rates and increased interest in attending college.

Another provision of the bill ends once and for all the practice of lunch shaming. Under the bill, school staff must provide meals to students even if their families have not paid the bill. Students with free- and reduced-payment status must be served despite any outstanding debt. Several years ago, when it was reported that some lunch staff would either take meals away from kids or refuse to serve them, a number of individuals and nonprofits raised money to pay those bills.

Though Gov. Tim Walz and the House and Senate were able to compromise and come to terms on some issues, they all had some disappointments with the final product. Senate Republicans pushed hard for some type of voucher program that would send public funds directly to students to be used at nonpublic schools. But that measure — fortunately, in the Editorial Board's view — did not make it into the final bill.

Still, Senate education chair Senate Education Committee Chairman Roger Chamberlain, R-Lino Lakes, said he approved of the final version because "It's a simple bill. Money, not mandates."

And House Democrats wanted early learning scholarships for children from birth to age 2 as well as linking future per-pupil formula increases to inflation. Those proposals failed as well. Yet as Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent, DFL-Woodbury, rightly pointed out, the approved spending increase will stave off staff layoffs for some districts, though it might not prevent budget cuts for some schools.

The state's budget surplus and large infusion of federal funding have been factors in helping lawmakers reach this compromise. Minnesota received about $1.3 billion from the feds for early education through high school — 90% of which goes directly to schools. Walz said part of the $132 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds the state has received for schools will go to after-school and summer enrichment programs, grants to public schools, and helping students make up for class time lost to the pandemic.

On balance, lawmakers approved an education spending package that will serve Minnesota students and families well over the next two academic years.