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State Representative Mike Benson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4378
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS RELEASE
REP. BENSON SUPPORTS K-12 EDUCATION REFORM BILL
ST. PAUL – On March 29, the Minnesota House of Representatives approved legislation that funds local classrooms for the next two years and reforms how Minnesota’s education system operates. State Representative Mike Benson (R-Rochester) supported the measure.
“Everyone realizes the need to properly fund education, and this bill does that,” Benson said. “But it also recognizes that for our students to complete globally, Minnesota’s education system must make some changes.”
As part of the education funding proposal, Benson said per-pupil funding would increase by $86 in years 2012-13 and $40 in 2014. Smaller schools that have less than one thousand students also would see additional funding.
But Benson the bill also focuses on reform and accountability. First off, it eliminates integration aid and allows school districts to spend that money by adding it to the per-pupil formula. The legislation also relieves school districts of several state-imposed mandates.
The proposal also lays out a system for teacher licensure and performance evaluation based upon teacher performance, with 50 percent coming from student academic growth and 50 percent from a locally determined evaluation system.
“This means the ‘last hired last fired’ system would be replaced by teachers being let go in order of their performance status,” Benson said. “This has been a common complaint among parents, and in some cases, the teachers themselves.”
Among other notable provisions included in the K-12 finance bill, the proposal reinstates a requirement that the 11th grade math test requirement be passed before receiving a diploma - which holds students and teachers to a stronger math standard; creates a grading system for Minnesota schools of A-F, based on a successful model in Florida; and repeals the statute that allows the state to delay state aid payments to certain school districts in order for the state to avoid short-term borrowing for cash flow purposes.
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