Dear neighbors,
Mark your calendars for National Night Out for Tuesday, August 4. I plan to stop by neighborhood gatherings for this great community celebration to meet constituents and listen to their questions, comments, and concerns about state government – particularly public safety issues.
On Saturday, August 8, I am scheduled to speak to the Maple Grove Critical Thinking Discussion Group. The meeting will take place at the Maple Grove Community Center between 10:00 and 11:45 in the morning. I plan to speak about my experience as a first-term legislator and various legislative issues.
I’ve heard from many of you with concerns about the traffic delays in our community due to construction. I have been speaking with officials from MNDOT on an ongoing basis. They inform me that they are working diligently to meet their anticipated deadlines.
On Thursday, the Minnesota Department of Education released new statewide Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) test results showing no overall improvement in math, reading, or science this year. Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie), the chair of the House Education Finance Committee, intends to hold legislative hearings in the fall to explore options that will provide better academic proficiency for our students.
While I’m proud of the work we did this session to prioritize education funding on classroom learning by targeting new dollars toward the formula – a base amount of funding for each school district that gives them flexibility to choose how to best spend education dollars – we need to continue to put forward reforms that will improve student learning. I hope we can work collaboratively with parents, teachers, school district leaders, and state officials to come up with innovative solutions that will provide for better academic results for our students.
Please continue to reach out to me to share your thoughts on transportation, education, or other concerns that impact our state and community. You can reach me via phone at 651-296-5502, or via email at Rep.Dennis.Smith@house.mn.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Dennis