Education

The following write-ups are produced and maintained by Minnesota House Research Department, with some links provided to other sources.

Education Requirements

Finance Guide

• Minnesota School Finance: A Guide for Legislators
  A 148-page guidebook describing how Minnesota funds public elementary and secondary schools. September 2023.

K-12 Funding

• Estimated Federal Covid-19 Funds for Schools
• Minnesota's K-12 Education Subtraction and Credit
• Income Tax Deductions and Credits for Public and Nonpublic Education in Minnesota
  A 14-page information brief outlining the history of the state's tax deduction and credit, their effects on tax liability. June 2017.
• Minnesota School Finance: A Guide for Legislators
  A 148-page guidebook describing how Minnesota funds public elementary and secondary schools. September 2023.
• Minnesota PreK-12 Education Finance System Overview: Committee Overview
  Presentation to House Education Finance Committee, January 2023
• School Aid Payment Shifts
  A 5-page brief that answers basic questions about school aid payments and payment shifts to public schools. It also provides some historical data on school payment shifts. September 2020.

Laws and Legal Issues

• Federal and State Laws Governing Access to Student Records
  A 19-page information brief discussing provisions of federal and state laws that regulate access to student records, which are largely private and can't be disseminated unless allowed by law or rule. December 2015.
• Minnesota's Public School Fee Law
• Youth and the Law
  A 140-page guidebook explaining state law and court cases that establish rights, responsibilities, and protections for youth, including information on economic protection, education, health and social services, and criminal justice. February 2024.

Early Childhood & Adult Education

• Early Learning Programs
  A 6-page information brief providing information on early learning programs in Minnesota. November 2018.

Schools & Districts

• Charter Schools
• Homeschools
• School District Collective Bargaining
• School District Consolidations
• School Resource Officers
• School Transportation Regulation
  A 25-page information brief outlining state regulation of school buses and drivers. July 2023.

Students

• Dual Enrollment Programs for High School Students
  A 4-page publication that explains the dual enrollment programs in Minnesota: postsecondary options and concurrent enrollment. October 2021.
• Minnesota Student Bullying Law
• Student Discipline
  An 8-page brief that addresses state law on student discipline in school districts and charter schools. January 2021.
• Student enrollment data
  Student enrollment in Minnesota K-12 schools from 1960 to 2029 in graphic and tabular forms.
• Student Movement by District
  Interactive spreadsheets that track student movement between school districts for each of the recent school years.

Teachers & Principals

• Conditions of Continuing Employment for K-12 Teachers
• School Principals
• Teacher Compensation

Archived Materials

The following materials have been archived and may contain some information that is not up-to-date. "Archived" materials are no longer actively maintained by House Research Department and are generally at least five years old. Current materials are provided in the previous topics.

• 2000 Adult Learner Legislation
• 2009 Passenger Restraint Legislation Memo
  An 8-page memo that summarizes 2009 legislation on child restraints and seat belts and discusses some implications for transporting children.
• Access to Student Records
• Adequate Yearly Progress Under the No Child Left Behind Act
• Administration of Early Education and Care Programs
  An 8-page information brief that describes the current administration structure of the early childhood education and child care programs in Minnesota and provides examples of how other states administer these programs. August 2009.
• Adult Basic Education
• Asbestos in School and Other Buildings (Request a copy)
• Charter Schools
  A 17-page information brief that describes the state's charter school law, including provision governing charter school operation, sponsors, financing, and facilities. November 2005.
• Cluster Analysis of Minnesota School Districts (Request a copy)
• Community, Early Childhood, and Adult Education Programs
  A 22-page information brief that provides an overview of the programs administered by the Minnesota Departments of Education and Human Services that are under the jurisdiction of the House education and human services committees. December 2010.
• Comparing High School Graduation and College Admission Requirements
• Components of Teacher Salary Costs: A Cluster Analysis Of Minnesota School Districts (Request a copy)
• Compulsory Education (Request a copy)
• Conditions of Continuing Employment for K-12 Public School Teachers in Minnesota (Request a copy)
• Constitutional Amendments at the 1984 Election Relating to the Permanent School Fund (Request a copy)
• The Constitutionality of Education Vouchers under State and Federal Law
• Cooperative Secondary Facilities Grant Program (Request a copy)
• Cooperative Secondary Facilities: State Grants for Smaller School Districts (Request a copy)
• Curriculum Reform Proposals in the National Reports (Request a copy)
• The Department of Children, Families and Learning (Request a copy)
• Drug Testing and Searches in Public Schools (Request a copy)
• Early Childhood Development and Care Programs
• Early Childhood Education Programs (Request a copy)
• Early childhood programs and funding
• Education Districts (Request a copy)
• Education for Children with Disabilities
• Education: Vouchers (Request a copy)
• Equalization Trends in Minnesota Education Finance, 1972 through 1987 (Request a copy)
• Evaluating Minnesota's School Principals
• The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
• Experimenting with All-Black Schools (Request a copy)
• Federal Accountability and the No Child Left Behind Act Waiver
• Federal and State Testing Requirements for K-12 Public School Students
  An 8-page information brief describing what tests are required under Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Minnesota's graduation rule. November 2002.
• The Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act 2001 Reauthorization
  Presentation given on February 14, 2003.
• Federal Race to the Top Grant
• Financing Education in Minnesota: Phase II Presentation to New School Board Members
  A presentation to the Minnesota School Board Association, December 10, 2020
• Funding for Secondary Vocational Education: 1979-1994 (Request a copy)
• General Education Revenue Funding Formulas For The 1988-89 School Years For K-12 Education (Request a copy)
• High School Graduation Requirements in Other States (Request a copy)
• History of Compulsory Education Laws in the United States (Request a copy)
• Holmes and Carnegie Reports on the Teaching Profession: A Summary (Request a copy)
• Internet Filters and the Children's Internet Protection Act
• Laws Governing Student Behavior
• Length of School Year and School Day: Minimum Requirements in the 50 States (Request a copy)
• Measures of Student Learning and School Accountability
• Minnesota Graduation Rule: Profile of Learning
• Minnesota High School Graduation Rules - 1992
  Previous Minnesota high school graduation rules from 1992. December 1992.
• Minnesota High School Graduation Rules - 1996
  Previous Minnesota high school graduation rules from 1996. December 1996.
• Minnesota Pupil Transportation
  A 12-page information brief summarizing state statutes regarding K-12 transportation and providing pupil transportation statistics. November 2001.
• Minnesota Pupil Transportation
• Minnesota's Charter School Law
• Minnesota's Debt Service Equalization Program for K-12 School Districts (Request a copy)
• Minnesota's K-12 Academic Standards and Assessments
• Minnesota's Public School Fee Law and Education Tax Credit and Deduction
  A 13-page information brief summarizing state law governing public school fees and describing which expenses are allowed under the state's education tax deduction and credit. November 2008.
• Minnesota's Regional Public Library System (Request a copy)
• Native American Education: Separate or Integrated? (Request a copy)
• Online Learning Option Act
• Open Enrollment Study: Patterns of Student Transfer 1989-1990 (Request a copy)
• Open Enrollment Study: Student and District Participation 1989-1990: Workin (Request a copy)
• Open Enrollment Study: Survey of School District Superintendents, 1989-1990 (Request a copy)
• The Organization of Education: Working Papers 1 and 2 (Request a copy)
• Overview of Federal Special Education Laws Affecting Student Discipline (Request a copy)
• Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Request a copy)
• Post-High School Plans of Minnesota Students (Request a copy)
• Principal and Teacher Accountability Laws
• Profile of Learning and the State's High School Graduation Rule
• Profile of Learning: Legislative Action in 1999 and 2000
  An 11-page information brief summarizing the efforts of the 1999 and 2000 legislatures to amend the profile of learning and what the final changes were. November 2000.
• Proposals to Amend the High School Graduation Rule
• The Pupil Fair Dismissal Act
• Regional Education Organizations: The School District Perspective (Request a copy)
• Regulating Students' Online Speech Under the First Amendment
• Review of State Funding for Head Start
• Rulemaking Authority of the State Board of Education (Request a copy)
• School Board Election Survey (Request a copy)
• School Desegregation (Request a copy)
• School District Cooperation and Consolidation: A Summary of Existing Law (Request a copy)
• School District Cooperation and Consolidation: A Summary of Existing Law (Request a copy)
• School District Referendum Elections
• School District Revenue History
  A 6-page review of school district revenue, state, local, and federal, from 1984 to 2004; includes an analysis of adjustment for inflation and other cost factors (PDF). (Published by the House Fiscal Analysis Department.)
• School Improvement Grant Program
• School Indoor Air Quality
• School Vouchers
• School Vouchers
  A 10-page information brief summarizing the recent legal debate over school vouchers in the U.S. Supreme Court case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris; it also discusses arguments about school vouchers under state constitutions and laws. September 2002.
• Schools and Firearms
• Selected Laws Relating to Violence in Schools (Request a copy)
• Skeen - Minnesota's School Finance Case (Request a copy)
• Skeen v. State of Minnesota: The School Finance Lawsuit
• Special Education Terms and Student Discipline
• State High School Graduation and College Preparation Requirements Compared
  A 5-page information brief which compares the high school graduation standard rule with the preparation requirements for the state's four-year colleges and universities. October 1998.
• State Laws on Teacher Quality and Effectiveness
• State School Finance Litigation (Request a copy)
• States' Analysis of Student Performance Under No Child Left Behind Act
• The State's High School Graduation Rule
• States' K-16 Education Systems
  A 17-page information brief that summarizes various states' approaches to increase collaboration between K-12 education and postsecondary education systems. September 2002.
• Statutory Requirements for K-12 Curriculum (Request a copy)
• Supplemental Education Services under the No Child Left Behind Act
• Teacher Salary Trends in Minnesota: 1974-1988 (Request a copy)
• Teacher Salary Trends in Minnesota: 1974-1988: A Research Report (Request a copy)
• Teacher/School Board Collective Bargaining: Resolving Impasses (Request a copy)
• Title I of the Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act and State Testing
• Types of Minnesota Teaching Licenses
• United States Supreme Court Ruling on Federal Remedial Programs in Nonpublic Schools (Request a copy)
• Universal Preschool
  An 11-page information brief that describes the state's early childhood education programs and universal preschool programs in other states. September 2009.
• Voluntary School Integration: 2007 U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
• World Language Proficiency for High School Students