On Monday, April 24, Senate Republicans introduced a “Students First” education plan that presents a better alternative to a set of Democrat-led mandate-heavy education bills. The Students First plan incorporates five key points that aim to directly assist students and address education shortfalls: 

• A 5% increase on the formula each year, with no new mandates tied to the formula 
• $1 billion to fund the special education cross-subsidy, which equates to funding the cross-subsidy at 65% 
• $100 million to fund literacy programs that get Minnesota students back on track  
• $200 million to fund “Safe Schools” initiatives to ensure every child feels safe while learning  
• $100 million to provide additional property tax relief through equalization  

 
“I strongly support funding an education system that provides our kids with the resources they require to excel as students and succeed as adults,” Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton) said. “We should be giving our schools more flexibility with their dollars to ensure they provide for the unique needs of students in their districts. The Democrats’ education budget, however, turns a blind eye to our Minnesota students. With its mandate-heavy approach, Democrats will only drive our schools into more deficits.” 

This plan sets itself apart from the Democrats’ plan by offering an alternative that prioritizes students, literacy, and funding that directly benefits learning in the classroom. The Democrats’ plan provides a 4% increase the first year and a 5% increase in the second year on the formula, most of which is tied to funding mandates, a 47% increase for the special education cross-subsidy, only $41 million literacy and nothing for school safety. 

In August 2022, the Department of Education released assessment results that showed a steady decrease in students meeting standards in reading, math, and science. Between 2018 and 2022, Minnesota went from 60% of students being proficient in reading to only 51%. A similar trend follows for science, decreasing from 52% to 41%, and math, also decreasing from 57% to 44%. 

Schools are sounding the alarm that mandates in both the Democrats’ education bills and their one-party control agenda would use all the extra funding in the proposed formula increases. It was reported that one suburban superintendent recently told his school board, “This is potentially one of the most damaging sessions I’ve seen since I’ve been a superintendent.”

“Democrats are breaking their promise to fully fund our schools. I’ve heard from schools in our community that the increase to the education formula will not even begin to cover the countless new mandates of the one-party control agenda. As a result, our schools will be worse off than under prior majorities in the legislature,” Senator Mathews concluded.