St. Paul — The Minnesota Senate today approved a bipartisan bill that fully funds E-12 schools with the largest formula increase in 15 years, emphasizes student literacy, mental health resources, and supporting teachers of color without burdensome mandates.

The education budget addresses the top request of public schools – investing in our kids and allowing for local control. This legislation will provide historic levels of funding as well as almost no new mandates on schools. This is the largest student formula increase in 15 years – an increase of $1.1 billion over the next four years. More than 80% of the new funding is placed on the state education formula, the money will be sent directly to local school districts allowing them the flexibility to spend on the specific needs of their districts in conclusion with their communities.

Senator Zach Duckworth (R-Lakeville) Chief Authored a number of provisions included in the final Education Budget Bill:

• Special Education Recovery Services and Support Plans: Requires that a school district or charter school develop a plan for its students with disabilities to address progress or skill loss due to in-person learning disruptions.
• Sanneh Foundation Grants will fund programs for struggling students. The grants focus on low-income students and students of color. The goals of the grants include decreasing absenteeism,
  encouraging school engagement, improving grades, and improving graduation rates.
• Modifying Charter School Authorizer Corrective Action Requirements to expedite the process to improve the quality of education kids receive.

“Where we go from here is critical, our schools hobbled across the finish line this year and we need to recognize the determination our teachers and students carried with them every step of the way. The education and well-being of our kids need to be at the forefront of our decisions making,” said Duckworth. “As a former school board member, I want to see our public schools succeed because if our schools succeed, our children succeed, and our communities succeed.”

Other key provisions included in the final bill:

• Several provisions to support student mental health, including a grant to the organization LiveMore, ScreenLess to address the effects of social media and screen time overuse and misuse, and funding for youth counseling at the elementary school level. The bill also includes funding for suicide prevention training for teachers and allows schools to use school safety funding for student mental health.

• The bill continues the bipartisan focus on early literacy by expanding the successful LETRS teacher training program. LETRS has become the consensus approach to training educators on how to properly teach reading to young students, particularly students with dyslexia.

• Grants are provided to increase teachers of color and American Indian teachers. Research shows that hiring more teachers of color improves the performance of students of color. The benefits include stronger reading and math scores, higher graduation rates, more interest in higher education, and fewer disciplinary issues. Students have reported feeling motivated by having teachers of color as role models, as well as a stronger sense of belonging.

• A two-year delay in the implementation of all new academic standards. By delaying implementation, administrators and teachers can put their focus on helping students with learning loss instead of bringing on new curriculum.