The E-12 budget target of $525 million announced by the Governor and House and Senate leaders on the last day of the session is $375 million above the Senate Republican E-12 proposal. That means there will likely be an increase in the basic funding formula which was missing from the Senate bill.
Other areas of potential agreement are investments in: Teachers of Color, mental health initiatives, special education and English language learner cross subsidies, nutrition and community education. The House-Senate working group got right to work the day after session ended to begin crafting a bill that will benefit all Minnesota’s children and help close the opportunity gap.
Before the gavel dropped to close the session, the conference committee agreed on a number of provisions that will likely be part of the final bill passed in June:
- notification of school staff, students and parents if there is a threat of an environmental hazard. The notice must also include information about what to do to reduce harm;
- anti-lunch shaming and debt collection procedures for schools;
- religious observance school absence notification for parents;
- special education COVID recovery learning services and supports;
- limits on Pre-school student screen time;
- academic standards implementation suspension
