Gov. Tim Walz on Monday outlined a wide-ranging plan for pre-K-12 education that aims to make up for learning loss caused by the coronavirus pandemic while finding more equitable ways to fund Minnesota’s public schools and teach its children.
The plan, a product of two years of discussions with a variety of groups both formal and informal, touches on preschool, teacher diversity and expanded opportunities for rural schools.
While some components already are being addressed by the Minnesota Department of Education, others will require legislation, which means cooperation from the Republican-controlled Senate.
More details, including what the initiatives might cost, will come Tuesday as Walz reveals the rest of his state budget plan.
“While it might be easy to say, ‘Well, we can’t do much now, we’re focused on COVID, we don’t have the resources,’ and to turn back in, that would be exactly the wrong solution,” Walz said.
The teacher-turned-politician released a two-page list of priorities for his “Due North” education plan on Monday, then held an hourlong news conference that did little to explain the mechanics of his reforms.
But the plan seems to call for major changes to school funding in the state.
In the short-term, Walz wants to protect schools from losing state revenue tied to enrollment, acknowledging many students left for home or private schools or postponed kindergarten because of the pandemic.
A more lasting change would boost funding for special-education and students learning English. School leaders have complained for years that targeted funding for those students has been insufficient, forcing schools to dip into funds meant for other students.
The governor also is taking aim at a system that relies on the will of local voters to support their schools through referendums. He lamented that some schools get “indoor swimming pools while other schools have leaky roofs.”
Plans also call for focusing this summer on ensuring students are on track academically after interruptions caused by the pandemic.
Deputy Education Commissioner Heather Mueller said that in a typical year, summer school is aimed at students who need remediation.
“This is not that,” she said. “This is really about summer enrichment programming to ensure that our students are on grade level and have access to what they need.”
That opportunity, according to the plan summary, would be available to “every student.”
RACIAL EQUITY
Among several plan components that touch on race, Walz wants to boost programs that help people of color become teachers and to expand pathways into the profession. His education department already has created a new office “to address systemic racism,” and plans are underway to provide anti-bias training to all school staff in Minnesota.
“Our education system of the past decades has failed to educate far too many children,” said retired state Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, who joined Walz at the news conference. “The Due North plan is an important first step in changing that.”
It’s unclear how, but the former Mankato teacher wants to help rural schools offer more career and technical classes, as well as college-level courses.
Another priority is to “expand early learning opportunities,” evidently building on efforts by his predecessor, Mark Dayton, to establish a limited number of state-funded preschool seats across the state.
In St. Paul Public Schools alone, 266 preschool seats for 4-year-olds are due to expire next year without legislative action.
“We’re hoping that, once and for all, these get rolled into the base and it’s not a fight every year to keep them in place,” district lobbyist Mary Gilbert said Monday morning.
St. Paul Superintendent Joe Gothard said he was pleased to see parallels between Walz’s plan and his own strategic plan for the district.
“I think it’s going to put us in a really good position to deepen the priorities we’ve made for St. Paul and for the state,” he said.
MIXED REACTION
Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, was among those contributing to the plan’s creation. At the news conference Monday, she praised the plan’s inclusion of student mental health services and opportunities for students who have fallen behind during the pandemic to catch up.
She said Walz showed political courage in launching such a wide-ranging plan.
“A more incremental plan would be simple, easy, cheap and wrong,” she said. “Our students need all of us to confront underfunding and racism, and to take the many necessary steps right now to transform our many schools so they work for everyone.”
State Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, the top Republican on the House Education Finance Committee, said the plan is “heavy on talking points, but lacks any meaningful reforms to raise academic achievement.” And he criticized the influence of “organizations that have obstructed progress and choices for students and families.”
The Minnesota Business Partnership said it agrees with Walz’s priorities but his plan “fails to address the Minnesota’s persistent education achievement gaps in any meaningful way.”
Josh Crosson, executive director of EdAllies, an advocacy group, said he appreciates the governor’s plan and is eager to see specific proposals. He’s also concerned Walz won’t go far enough to get students on track after the pandemic or to help new teachers of color stay in the profession by eliminating seniority-based layoff policies.
“Moving the needle means disrupting the status quo, and that can be uncomfortable,” he said. “I hope that the governor is willing to take on meaningful change, and engage with a broader group of parents, students, and community members who are willing to push him with a sense of urgency that our students of color, low-income learners and students with disabilities deserve.”
