Today Senate Democrats passed a partisan, mandate-heavy education policy omnibus bill. The legislation fails to address the three areas where schools need the most support: increasing academic success, providing mandate relief and improving school safety.

“Schools have been asking for relief to combat the burdensome mandates that were passed last year, but instead of addressing their concerns, we have a bill in front of us that adds additional mandates and once again fails to put students’ needs first,” said Senator Michael Kreun (R-Blaine), who is a member of the Education Finance Committee. “For our students to be successful, our schools need to be successful. That means focusing on academics, addressing failing test scores, giving schools the tools succeed, and giving parents an avenue for involvement. This bill fails to do any of that.”

Amidst slipping graduation rates and fewer than half of Minnesota students performing at grade-level in math and reading, today’s education policy bill increases mandates on schools, even after more than 60 mandates were passed in the 2023 session. A letter on March 14 from various education groups requested the legislature refrain from passing new mandates in 2024, citing the negative impacts to their budget, workforce, local control, and innovation efforts. Senate Republicans recently presented a bill to give local school districts more options with state funding, which was offered as an amendment during today’s floor debate.

The amendment sought to allow school boards to transfer the new funding from one use to another by passing a resolution indicating the amount and purpose of the funds they want to transfer. These relief measures would be in place for the next three school years and only apply to mandates in the 2023 education omnibus bills plus any new mandates that are anticipated in 2024 education legislation. Democrats refused to accept this amendment.