SAINT PAUL – Today, the Minnesota Department of Education announced PreK funding amounts for 74 school districts and charter schools totaling $25 million as part of the voluntary PreK program passed during the 2016 legislative session. House Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL – St. Paul) released the following statement:
“As I've traveled the state over the past few years meeting with and listening to local educators, parents and administrators, it has been clear that demand for universal PreK is extremely high. Anyone who is engaged in early learning knows that the benefits to our young learners are great and the opportunity PreK provides is enormous, and today's announcement just affirms that.
“While I'm thrilled for the communities that will be receiving money from the program, I'm frustrated for those that didn't. The announcements are cause for real celebration in some parts of Minnesota. But too many districts and parents in the schools that didn't receive awards remain in wait and will continue to bear the high cost of childcare and PreK for their kids in pursuit of their best future. That is not right.
“With a large budget surplus those communities would have benefited from an honest discussion about the need for the universal "MinneK" bill I authored with Sen. Katie Sieben. Instead the conversation was only around how to begin a small piece of that work.
“I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues and the administration in the coming months to make sure that we get closer to offering all Minnesota families the high quality educational opportunities their kids deserve.”
Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-Saint Paul) is the Deputy Minority Leader and the former Majority Leader in the Minnesota House.