ST. PAUL – Senate Republicans responded to flatlined student test scores released this morning. Results show just 50% of students can read and 45% are proficient in math across the state. That’s a drop of about 10% in each area since 2019, when scores were already trending downward.    

“Despite historic funding for students and schools over the last four budgets, our students and classroom teachers are still not getting the support for academics they need,” Senator Jason Rarick (R-Pine City) said. “While the forced shutdowns during the pandemic certainly impacted all of us, these test results show students suffered more than anyone. We need a laser focus on academics to improve fundamental reading and math skills, not the extreme mandates that were passed by Democrats which cost districts more than they were funded.” 

Rarick is the lead Republican on the Senate Education Finance Committee.   

“The hundreds of mandates on schools and teachers passed by Democrats this year will only exacerbate this problem,” Sen. Julia Coleman (R-Waconia) said. “The cost of these mandates leaves our schools underfunded, understaffed, and unprepared to tackle the biggest challenges our students face. Rather than put student achievement first, Democrats weakened teacher licensure standards while blocking qualified teachers from the profession and mandated teachers spend more time out of the classroom.   

“Senate Republicans proposed the Students’ First plan which funded students without mandates and put $100 million towards literacy training for teachers and students to get them back on track,” she continued. “We opposed changing teacher licensure and support instruction from qualified experts to address the teacher shortage.”   

Coleman serves as the Republican lead on the Senate Education Policy Committee.   

Schools sounded the alarm that the mandates in the Democrats’ education bills along with their one-party control agenda would leave schools underfunded. One suburban superintendent told his school board, “This is potentially one of the most damaging sessions I’ve seen since I’ve been a superintendent.”