By Carmen Schuld, Bigelow
The state fair is over, fall is in the air and children are returning to school.
I know that everyone says they support education. No one ever says they don’t care if children get the help in life that comes with a good education. But while everyone talks about it, not everyone does something about it.
In the last legislative session, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislators worked to improve funding for education. They knew investing a portion of the budget surplus in our students would pay off for years to come. But the House Republicans would only accept a miserly increase of less than 1 percent. The Republicans had other priorities, like making sure big corporations kept their tax deductions.
Gov. Dayton and DFL legislators knew the importance of high-quality schools to Minnesota’s future. Because of their hard work, the final education funding agreement significantly improved our state’s investment in early learning and K-12 schools.
Every school district in the state will receive additional funding for K-12 education. Additional funds will be available to connect trained tutors with children who are struggling to read. Because school buildings are aging, especially in rural Minnesota, the Legislature decided to invest more than $30 million in maintenance to classrooms and school buildings.
As this year school year starts, I want to thank all the teachers and school support staff for the work they do to provide our children a high-quality education. I want to thank Gov. Dayton, Lt. Gov. Smith and the DFL legislative leaders who worked so hard to ensure that Minnesota schools receive the funds they need to do this important work.
We are lucky to live in Minnesota, where education is a priority.
