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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL)

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DFL Budget Prioritizes Educational Excellence

Thursday, August 22, 2013

To the editor of the North News:

With the 2013 school year right around the corner, moms and dads throughout Minnesota are busy preparing their children for success in the classroom.

Thanks to the new state budget passed by the DFL-led legislature and Governor Mark Dayton, our schools have new tools and resources designed to close the achievement gap and help every child reach his or her full potential—regardless of race, income, or background.

Minnesota’s public schools will receive a funding increase in each of the next two years. Here in Minneapolis, public schools will receive an additional $2.1 million in Fiscal Year 2014 ($64 more per student) and an additional $22 million in FY15 ($643 more per student).

8,000 low-income families will receive scholarships to send their children to high-quality preschool. In 2014, every child will have access to all-day Kindergarten free of charge. These kinds of investments in Minnesota’s youngest learners are effective tools that will help close our achievement gap and give students the skills and knowledge needed for academic success.

State lawmakers also discontinued punitive, high-stakes tests and replaced them 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.

I believe we can and should do more to close the achievement gap and give students the best education possible, but we certainly took a big step in the right direction by passing a new state budget that prioritizes our commitment to educational excellence.

As you prepare your son or daughter for the new school year, be sure to save your receipts when you purchase school supplies. The state of Minnesota offers tax breaks for school-related expenses for Kindergarten through 12th grade students attending public, private, and home schools.

Parents can choose one of two options: a refundable K-12 education credit or the K-12 education subtraction. Both programs reduce the tax parents pay and could provide a larger refund when filing a 2013 Minnesota Individual Income Tax Return.

The tax breaks and deductions cover expenses including paper, pens and notebooks, textbooks, computer hardware and software, after-school tutoring and educational summer camps, and rental or purchases of educational equipment such as musical instruments. For more information, you can call the Minnesota Department of Revenue at (651) 296-3781 or visit their website at www.revenue.state.mn.us.

I hope you and your loved ones enjoy your final days of summer and have a great start to the school year. As always, feel free to contact me about any issue by phone at (651) 296-8659, by email at rep.raymond.dehn@house.mn, or by postal mail at 423 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.

Sincerely,

 

Raymond Dehn
State Representative, District 59B