Friends,
With the arrival of Fall and students returning to classrooms. Insuring every Minnesota student receive a quality education is a top priority for Minnesota. This session we prioritized in funding our schools and ensuring we partner that funding with key reforms to improve educational outcomes. Have a great week!
K-12 Funding & Key Reforms
The 2017 Legislature made a significant investment into our children's future. The K-12 Budget will see an increase of $1.3 billion. We also give more local control to school districts by ending the "Last In, First Out" default layoff policy so schools can keep the best teachers in their classrooms.
School districts in our area will see a combined $11.8 million in increased funding over the next two years from the per-pupil increase alone. This significant investment into our schools combined with real reforms to keep the best teachers in the classroom means we are one step closer to providing a world-class education for every student in the state of Minnesota.
Tax Breaks for Families with Students
I wanted to make sure parents know about tax incentives that may allow them to keep more of their hard earned money come tax season. Minnesota has both a credit and a subtraction for education expenses.
Most school supplies qualify for the credit or subtraction, including writing utensils, textbooks, and musical instrument rentals. Common items that don’t qualify for the subtraction or credit include school lunches, uniforms, backpacks, and more. According to the Department of Revenue, more than 43,000 families took advantage of the education credit saving an average of $242. In all, nearly 200,000 families took advantage of the education subtraction.
Full details about the Education Subtraction and Credit can be found on the Department of Revenue’s website: http://www.revenue.state.mn.us.
High School Page Program
The Minnesota House of Representatives High School Page Program is now accepting applications. Over the last 40 years the program has provided high school juniors with hands-on access to our state government in action. I encourage any high school junior who may be interested in learning more about the legislative process to apply for the page program by December 1st. Click here to apply!
Please continue to stay in touch to share your thoughts and ideas on issues important to you. You can schedule a time to meet with me in my office any time by calling (651) 296-9236, or share your thoughts via email by emailing me at rep.duane.quam@house.mn
Thank you and have a great week,
Duane