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Education Boost of $300 Million Wins Senate Approval
Posted
April 4, 2017
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57
April 4, 2017
57
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58:19Now Playingby Steve Senyk
A bill spending $18.5 billion dollars over the next two years for early childhood through high school education won Senate approval Tuesday, April 4. The measure, sponsored by Senator Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, allocates an additional $300 million dollars above the anticipated growth in spending for E-12 education.
The bill directs 95 percent of the new funding to general education, which is allocated by the number of students per school district. According to Nelson, the bill would raise the per student allocation by $118 in 2018 and $230 in 2019.
One of the key policy changes in the bill is designed to improve the teacher licensing process, which will help teachers from other states enter the classrooms faster, and encourage professionals from different fields of work to enter the teaching profession.
The bill allocates funds for reading and math tutors to assist students falling behind. It also offers grants to schools to encourage low-income and underserved students to enroll in Advanced Preparatory (AP) courses. It also provides funding for early learning scholarships to help low-income students take advantage of school readiness programs. Furthermore, the measure funds efforts to ensure students are able to read by the third grade.
One of the new provisions creates "E-Learning Days," which allows schools to conduct digital courses on snow days to avoid lengthening the school calendar.
Senate DFL members cited the bill as falling short on per-pupil funding. Senator David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholsm, said the bill could have been improved with additional funding and efforts should have been included to aid small rural schools. Senator Nelson said education funding is "the great equalizer. It is the moral issue of our day. It is the racial issue of our day, and it is the economic issue of our day." She added that the bill reflects the mission of the committee, which was to focus on funding students and programs that work.
The video consists of the final comments on the bill.
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