On Thursday, the Minnesota Senate passed legislation that will protect students’ right to an excellent education at all times. The bill, Senate File 2, removes any governor’s authority to close schools or alter school schedules via executive order. Decisions about opening and closing will be left in the hands of individual school districts moving forward, where local officials have firsthand knowledge of their students’ needs.

“Minnesota students have suffered numerous negative impacts from distance learning, from academic achievement to mental health and beyond,” Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria) said. “The science shows that the virus least impacts our children, and we know we can safely get our students back in the classroom. It is time for Governor Walz to end bureaucratic control and allow our local administrators to make the smart choices for our kids’ educations.”

The bill says the governor may not use executive order authority to issue any order or to authorize the commissioner of education to alter school schedules, curtail school activities, or order schools closed.

Gov. Walz’s executive orders closing schools have been among his most questioned and controversial orders of the outbreak.

There is mounting evidence, including research from the CDC, that schools pose a minimal risk of spreading the coronavirus. A fall Reuters report that studied 191 countries also found no clear link between school reopenings and coronavirus surges. In addition, Axios looked at several studies and found schools are not Covid hotspots, and the Atlantic Magazine wrote that kids are not superspreaders and that it’s time to reopen schools. The New York Times reported on evidence that schools, especially elementary schools, are not “stoking community transmission.”

On Wednesday, Governor Walz revised his Safe Learning Plan but still holds state authority to change education plans going forward.

“Walz is moving his dials in reaction to our legislation, which is good,” Senator Ingebrigtsen. “But at the end of the day, his shifting does not t go fast enough or far enough. Minnesotans have been in this pandemic for almost a year, and some kids have not been in a classroom just as long. Let’s get our state open and our kids back to school.”