On Monday April 30, Senator Carla Nelson co-chaired a joint meeting of the Senate Education Finance and Policy Committees to discuss a recent audit of early childhood education in Minnesota. Conducted by the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA), the audit found a fragmented array of programs with confusing funding sources, burdensome paperwork, and unknown outcomes.

“Early education is often advertised as the best thing we can do for our students, and in many cases, it has proven to work. But education advocates like myself should be disappointed to learn that Minnesota’s many early education programs are disjointed, confusing for parents, and multiple streams of funding could be directed to the same student,” said Senator Nelson, Chairwoman of the Senate E-12 Education Finance Committee. “Worse, it’s impossible to know whether or not the programs are working.”

The audit also found that, despite a current state law that establishes school readiness goals, the number of children prepared for school is unknown. The OLA recommended that the legislature consider aligning differences in funding and program requirements, in addition to considering requiring assessments of children’s school readiness.

“To set our kids up to be tomorrow’s leaders, we need to know if they’ve been prepared well for kindergarten, and what kind of education they’ve already received,” added Senator Nelson. “I have offered legislation that requires the Department of Education to start evaluating early childhood education programs so taxpayer dollars can be invested where they work best for our students.”