St. Paul, Minn.— This evening, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed HF 5237, the K-12 Education Supplemental budget, on a 68-61 vote.
“Minnesotans want to make sure our schools have the funding to meet their students' needs,” said Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), chair of the House Education Finance Committee. “That’s why we are continuing the investment in our public schools that we made last year. Once again we invest in the Read Act, put more teachers in our schools, keep more students in our classrooms, and make sure our students have a seat at the decision-making table.”
HF 5237 builds on the legislature’s historic investments last year by adding $37 million in new Read Act funding and providing districts with increased flexibility in using the $35 million of last year’s Read Act appropriations.
“All students deserve a world-class education and an opportunity to succeed,” said Rep. Mary Frances Clardy (DFL-Inver Grove Heights), vice chair of the House Education Finance Committee. “That’s why House DFLers are delivering investments to improve school readiness and critical skills like reading to foster an environment where all kids can learn, grow, and thrive.”
It expands Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten programs by 5,200 seats beginning in 2025 (one year ahead of the schedule set in last year’s budget) and establishes working groups to ensure that special education and English learner funds (which both saw significant increases of approximately $1.8 billion in funding over the next four years in last year’s bill) are being used in alignment with best practices.
The K-12 Education Supplemental Budget includes multiple provisions to ensure that teachers and paraprofessionals have the training they need to meet student needs, including a pilot program to pay student teachers. It also includes multiple provisions to address the growing rate of student absenteeism. Finally, the bill provides students uniform baseline information in their curriculum about their physical and mental health as a state standard so they can adopt and maintain healthy behaviors throughout life.
Video of the floor debate can be found here.
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