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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Barb Yarusso

507 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0141

For more information contact: Susie Merthan 651-296-2955

Posted: Feb 22 2013 9:53AM
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E-Update

2013 Session Update

Dear friends,

This week, members from House education-related committees, including the Education Policy Committee that I serve on, gathered to discuss the subject of “The World’s Best and Smartest Workforce.”  I believe that Minnesota can lead the nation and the world in educating our kids for 21st century jobs.

My colleagues and I listened to speakers who talked about Minnesota’s future and what must happen for the state to remain economically strong and retain its quality of life. Some of the main points that were discussed are that Minnesota is getting older fast and we need to keep our young people on the cutting-edge of education and technology.  In addition, 70 percent of Minnesota jobs will require education beyond high school by 2018. 

Minnesota needs all of our kids to be well prepared for post-secondary education and careers. To get there, we need to make sure all third graders are reading at grade level, and adolescent students are thinking about their career options. The fastest-growing portion of our under-age-18 population is kids of color, and we have one of the largest achievement gaps in the country. The importance of early childhood education for children living in poverty was stressed. With our state tuitions soaring above the national average, we need to reduce the costs of college for families. Programs that offer college credits for high school students can reduce those costs while also helping maintain student motivation.

There was another message heard throughout the course of the testimony: there are more good-paying jobs in Minnesota than qualified job candidates.  Training for ever-changing tech jobs is a challenge, but we must make investments in educating our workforce for these 21st century jobs.

Minnesota has always been a leader in education.  Today, Minnesota’s best high-school students are outperforming most states and countries in the world in math. This is good news.  Additionally, many companies still are motivated to come to Minnesota because of the quality of the workforce.  We need to update our system to make sure that companies continue to want to start and grow in Minnesota.

The meeting on “The World’s Best and Smartest Workforce” highlighted many challenges and suggestions relating to making Minnesota1’s workforce the best in the nation and world.  Ultimately, we will work towards preparing our children for success in the ever-changing job market.  We are already working on early childhood education initiatives and will use the testimony from this committee as we craft legislation to make Minnesota more economically competitive.

Our Students

Today I met with a group of students from Mounds View High School. It’s always a pleasure to help young people learn how our government works.

I would like to congratulate the girls’ hockey teams from Irondale and Hill-Murray on qualifying for the State Girls’ Hockey Tournament. I would also like to commend the teams from Mounds View and Totino Grace for getting to the Section Finals. Although only Mounds View is located in District 42A, all of them have students from our district.

Coffee and Conversation

I will be hosting a coffee and conversation this Saturday, February 23, at Caribou Coffee (2585 County Road 10, Mounds View, 55112) from 9:00-11:00am.  Please stop by to with any questions or comments on what’s happening at the Capitol.  I hope to see you there! 

Please contact me anytime during the legislative session with your input on any issue.  I can be reached by phone at (651) 296-0141 or by email at rep.barb.yarusso@house.mn. 

Sincerely,

 

Barb Yarusso

State Representative

 

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