This week Senate Republicans passed a K-12 Education Finance Bill that spends $18.5 billion on Minnesota schools over the next two years. With a $1.1 billion boost from the last biennium, 95% of the budget goes toward the general education formula to equally fund every school district in the state.

Senate Republicans have increased the general education revenue an average of $118 in 2018 and $230 in 2019. Funding is now available for an additional 35,000 students statewide, addressing the special education and adult basic education needs. In addition, Senate Republicans concentrate resources to school readiness and proven programs that help close Minnesota’s achievement gap.

Sen. Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake), Chair of the Senate Education Policy Committee, authored the policy portion of the bill with provisions to improve the classroom experience for all Minnesota students.

Included in this portion are methods to promote transparency within the charter school system. The bill defines the role and responsibilities of authorizers and clarifies their relationship to charter schools. These changes will help improve the function of the charter school system by establishing a common set of requirements both the authorizer and the school can work from.

In addition, this bill emphasizes student literacy by requiring schools to create a personalized learning plan for children not reading by third grade.

“Third grade is a critical turning point in a child’s educational development; it’s the time when students transition from learning to read to reading to learn,” said Sen. Pratt. “With one in three Minnesota students unable to read proficiently by grade three, we have provided comprehensive reading support to help struggling students grasp this fundamental skill before falling too far behind.”

Sen. Pratt is also working on a significant teacher licensure reform bill that will go to the floor for full debate later this session.