Legislative Update: Minnesota's Education Challenges & A Plan for the Future
Friends,
This week, the Governor and legislative Democrats took a victory lap over Minnesota’s high school graduation rate, now just under 85 percent for the 2025 class. We should continue to push for more student success while ensuring the diploma students receive retains its value.
For that same class, 34.7 percent of students met grade-level standards in math, and just 51.5 percent were proficient in reading. Both are record lows. ACT results show the same trend. Only 39 percent of students met at least three college-readiness benchmarks, and 36 percent met none.
To many of us in the schools and classrooms across Minnesota, this doesn’t come as a surprise. Over time, we’ve moved away from clear standards and meaningful measures of academic readiness. Teachers are handling more classroom disruptions, and that takes away from students who are there to learn. In some cases, it’s becoming a safety issue. Schools are also being stretched thin and have been for some time. There are roughly 65 mandates coming out of St. Paul that districts are expected to follow, many without funding. That forces schools to shift time and resources just to stay in compliance. Meanwhile, spending continues to grow in areas that don’t reach the classroom like the Minnesota Department of Education.
We’ve brought forward practical solutions. I have a hearing on Hour File 4114 on Tuesday which would repeals to cut to special education funding. The Scholarship Granting Organization bill would create a new way to bring funding into schools without raising taxes and would apply to all schools. I’ve also introduced House File 2239 to give districts relief from unfunded mandates so they can focus on students instead of paperwork.
These are straightforward ideas, based on what educators and families are asking for, but they continue to be blocked. Instead, the focus in on growing the bureaucracy at the state level and shifting the cost and burden to our cities, counties and schools.
This reality gets frustrating but needs to be addressed. I spoke on this issue in last week’s Education Finance Committee. You can watch a short clip of my remarks below.
 We are still in a tied House just like last year. It takes at least one Democrat legislator to join us in moving these solutions forward. I’ve said this before and some of you have pointed out, “why don’t you join them in doing the same?” If they offer a solution that prioritizes students and teachers over expanding the staff and budget of the Minnesota Department of Education, I’ll jump at the chance. We just haven’t seen that yet but I hope it changes.
The writing is on the wall: this is simply not a sustainable path for our communities. When you look at the problems across multiple systems, it’s clear we need a change. I’m going to keep working with anyone willing to be part of that effort so we can get things back on track and make sure we are building strong families, strong communities and strong schools.
The same can be said about affordability, government failures in accountability, and policies that hurt our economy instead of helping it grow.
As means to address this, House Republicans rolled out our North Star Comeback plan this week, which really builds on a lot of what I’ve talked about here. It focuses on making life more affordable, getting government back to doing its job, and creating an environment where people can actually get ahead again. That includes things like lowering car tab fees, providing tax relief, and putting more resources into schools without raising taxes, along with much stronger accountability to address fraud. These are practical ideas that we’re hearing about directly from Minnesotans, and like the bills I’ve mentioned, they’ll take that same level of bipartisan support to actually get across the finish line. I’ll plan to go into more detail on this next week.
 Thank you for continuing to stay engaged through the ups and downs of the legislative session. I know it gets frustrating at times, but we need to continue working towards a better future for our great state and the families that call it home.
Please reach out and share your thoughts and ideas.
Have a great weekend,
Please Contact Me
Please continue to reach out if I can be of any assistance to you. You can reach me by phone at 651-296-5185 or by email at rep.ben.bakeberg@house.mn.gov.
Have a great weekend!
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