As most know, I'm a former teacher. I'm passionate about our children and their futures. I also know well that a good education is key to their future success.
This week, the National Center for Education Statistics released the results of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) commonly referred to as the Nation’s Report Card. This assessment is given nationwide in grades 4 and 8 in reading and math. The NAEP allows for an apples-to-apples comparison across states and provides a good independent verification on local testing data.
Minnesota’s results are extremely concerning. Reading proficiency for both fourth and eighth graders has again slipped downward. Reading proficiency for fourth graders is now at 31% and eighth graders at 28%. Though proficiency scores went up very slightly in math, those scores remain well below 50%.
My heart breaks hearing this! Children cannot learn math, science, or any other subject if they are unable to read. When they grow up to be adults who can't read, they cannot get good jobs to support themselves or their families, and self-esteem goes down the drain.
In the world of politics, some will downplay the significance of this data or lean into the better numbers on math. In the past, some have pointed out that Minnesota still performs above the national average - so we’re not that bad. Really? If I am drowning in 10 feet of water and you are drowning in 15 feet of water, should I celebrate because I'm drowning in less water?
I will have nothing to do with political spin. Our kids are in trouble and we must act now.
Last week in the Education Policy Committee, I listened raptly to an hour and a half of excellent testimony by school leaders from across our state. The consistent message is that our state has over regulated and over mandated our schools, forcing them to spend precious resources and staff time on peripheral issues and administrative costs instead of core academics like reading, math, and science.
So, what do we do about this? I lead our House Republican Education Policy team, which is made up of GOP members who are current or former teachers, school administrators, and more. We have come up with priority initiatives for education policy to address this crisis by enabling our schools to prioritize literacy, increasing local control and innovation, and empowering parents.
First, we address literacy by improving the recently enacted READ Act which is over regulated and underfunded. We begin with a solid commitment to the Science of Reading and a fundamental belief that every child has the right to read. We repeal some of the new requirements that were included in the 2024 session that have political or ideological purposes that distract from the core mission of education. We also restore the expectation that our teachers are not only properly prepared to provide reading instruction grounded in the science of reading, but that ability is verified by teacher assessment.
Second, we focus on empowering schools to be innovative. The revisions we propose will shift the mindset from one of schools always forced to seek permission from the state to a mindset of trusting our locally elected school boards, educators, and parents. When those three are at the table making decisions without the heavy hand of bureaucrats, great things can happen.
One of my favorite proposals empowers schools even more by converting the current Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Center within the Department of Education to be the Office of Achievement and Innovation. This office will have a very simple and direct mission to “assist school districts and charter schools in researching and implementing practices focused on promoting academic achievement in literacy and reading comprehension, mathematics and numeracy, science, and career readiness.” This mission comes with a key limitation – “all opinions and guidance issued by the office are advisory and are not binding on a district or charter school.”
We also direct the Department of Education to create an online school performance report that is user friendly with the expectation that the users are parents and taxpayers. MDE has a lot of good data available, but it’s not easy for parents to navigate. We are not “grading” schools here. We are empowering parents to be engaged parents.
Finally, we provide additional temporary options for school boards in both funding flexibility and relief from the more than 65 new mandates imposed on our schools in the previous biennium. Schools need breathing room to address core issues with fidelity. School boards would have the flexibility to transfer dollars between many different funds at their discretion through fiscal year 2029. Additionally, school boards would be allowed to delay implementation of many of the new mandates imposed during the 2023-24 legislative biennium through the 2028-29 school year.
There is a lot to do to address this education crisis. It’s time to get to work!