Rep. Tom Anzelc Touts Progress on Education at Event in Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS, MN — Today, Minnesota House Speaker Paul Thissen, Rep. Tom Anzelc, local school administrators, teachers and staff held a “Back-to-School” education roundtable discussion in Grand Rapids to highlight how the “education session” positively impacts schools and students in the region.

After years of disinvestment, the 2013 legislative session yielded historic investments in E-12 education. Major areas of progress are as follows:

More Funding For Every School in Minnesota. The budget invests an additional $234 million in the school funding formula, providing schools with an increase in funding in each of the next two years. Grand Rapids Public Schools are receiving over $474,000 in new funding in Fiscal Year 2014 and over $4.3 million in FY15. The table below shows a breakdown of both total revenue and spending per student (ADM) for the district under the new state budget.

FY14

FY15

All-Day Kindergarten for Every Child. The budget invests $134 million to help Minnesota school districts provide optional All-Day Kindergarten to every child free of charge. Currently, only 54 percent of Minnesota’s Kindergarten students have access to free all-day Kindergarten, with thousands of families having to pay out of pocket. In some school districts, moms and dads will save as much as $4,100 per year.

Early Learning Scholarships for 8,000 Kids. The budget invests $40 million in scholarships that will help thousands more children attend high quality child care and preschool to ensure they are prepared for Kindergarten and beyond.  Families will be eligible for up to $5,000 in scholarships. 

Repaying our Schools. The budget accelerates repayment of the money that the state borrowed from our schools in previous years — with first repayments beginning in October.

Testing Reform to Improve How We Measure Student Achievement. The bill discontinues punitive, high-stakes testing and replaces it with exams designed to maximize college- and career-readiness. Students will take these new exams beginning in middle school to provide parents and kids with important diagnostics to empower them with early planning for their career goals and success in learning.

World’s Best Workforce. School districts must adopt a comprehensive, long-term strategic plan to improve teaching and learning that is aligned with creating the “world’s best workforce.”  Districts must strive to, among other markers, close achievement gaps, have students reading at grade level by 3^rd grade, and have them graduate from high school college- and career-ready.

“It was our goal to make 2013 the ‘Education Session’ and our budget clearly accomplished that,” said Speaker Thissen. “A world-class education is essential to building a world-class economy and the increased funding, all-day K, and reforms in our budget will help every student and every school across the state.”

The DFL Budget also contains a new strategy to close the revenue equity gap and reduce property taxes. The budget enhances the equity formula guaranteeing all districts at least $300 per student of equity and referendum revenue, includes a new Student Achievement Levy and raises and indexes operating referendum levy equalization factors to reduce property taxes. In the last 10 years, the disparity in revenue between high property tax revenue and low property tax revenue districts has grown by 66 percent, forcing many districts to rely more heavily on local property tax levies.

“This budget gives our youngsters the tools and resources they need to reach their full potential,” said Rep. Anzelc. “We ended the era of cuts and made the kinds of investments that will keep Minnesota economically competitive for decades to come. Building a well-educated workforce will attract more companies to set up shop in our state.”

The new investments in this education bill mark a sharp contrast from education bills of the past decade. Minnesota was trapped in a cycle of deficits, with schools and students paying the price through painful funding cuts. The state slipped from the top 10 in funding to 22nd and Minnesota is now ranked 47^th in the country in terms of classroom sizes. As a result of new investments in the DFL budget, one district that moved to a four-day week is considering moving back to a five-day week.

“The new state budget is going to make a positive difference for countless students in northern Minnesota,” added Rep. Anzelc. “Our future is very bright.”