Blog : 'Advocacy' Category

Archive for the ‘Advocacy’ Category

More Progression this Session: A Look at EdAllies’ 2024 Policy Priorities

It’s the start of the new year and that means all eyes are on the Capitol for what is sure […]

Going Backwards on PreK-3 Suspensions & Expulsions

After years of advocacy to improve school discipline in Minnesota, this year is poised to bring meaningful improvements to the […]

Community Action Team: Eliminating Barriers for Prospective Teachers of Color

While nearly 35% of students in Minnesota identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color, the teacher workforce across the […]

A Big Session Lies Ahead for Kids. What Are We Working On This Year?

With a new year comes a new session of the Minnesota Legislature! While things are just kicking off this week, […]

Why Do Prospective Teachers of Color Walk Away? Join the Community Action Team

While nearly 35% of students in Minnesota identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color, the teacher workforce across the […]

The Broken Promise of Advanced Coursework for Students of Color (Like Me)

Hours before crossing the stage for high school graduation, I reflected on my journey. Meeting wonderful friends and mentors and […]

What Are You? Putting an End to Guessing Games with Disaggregated Data

“Are you Japanese? No, Chinese?” I shook my head. “I’m Hmong,” I said. “Oh right! I should have guessed that […]

Racist Incidents are Increasing. Can Ethnic Studies Address the Problem?

If you’ve been following the latest education policy news from the Minnesota State Capitol, you know that the House Omnibus […]

MN Youth Can’t Succeed without Proper Access to Mental Health Support

Content Warning: This piece discusses suicidal feelings. Mental health in the youth community is a very important issue that crosses […]

Fighting for Our Kids: Special Education Services Need an Overhaul. But Will MN Invest?

The number of students with neurodevelopmental disabilities, like Autism, ADHD, and speech and language disorders, has increased since Minnesota’s education […]

In the Homestretch of Session, What’s Up for Debate in Education? Kids Deserve a Deal

It’s the seventh-inning stretch at the Minnesota Legislature. And with a little over a month to go until the constitutionally-required […]

The Time to Prioritize Literacy is Now

Sometimes I think of literacy among Minnesota students as a stopped-up pipe. Water is making its way but it isn’t […]

New Bill Would Put Free, Accessible Period Products in Schools—and Keep Kids in Class

While it’s not the first thing most think about when it comes to ensuring students are in class and learning, […]

Legislators Finally Reach a Deal on K-12 Bill. What Did (& Didn’t) Make the Cut?

More than one month after the regular 2021 legislative session ended, legislators have reached an agreement on the K-12 education omnibus […]

As a First-Gen College Student, High-Level High School Courses Made the Difference in my Success

Going into my junior year of college, I’ve realized something crucial to my success—particularly as a first-generation student: The courses […]

House Education Omnibus Bill: Some Good Policies with a Swing and a Miss on Teacher Licensure

This month, the Education Policy Committee released their omnibus bill—the single bill that packages all the K-12 policies the House […]

Searching for Strength Following Atlanta Shootings

On Tuesday, a gunman entered three different spas and killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women. Over the […]

Are Current Licensure Proposals Really for the Benefit of Our Children?

I am a bilingual teacher with a master’s in Education, a degree in Latin American Studies, and 15 years of […]

Let’s Break it Down: Five Reasons Why We’re Saying “NO” to This Year’s Licensure Bill

If you had told me a decade ago that I would be working this hard to make teacher licensure in […]

Teachers Push Back on Licensure Changes

Minnesota students should never miss out on a great teacher because of arbitrary licensure barriers. Despite signs that tiered licensure […]

Free College in High School? I’m Doing It, but Too Few Students in MN Know They Can Too

At the end of my sophomore year of high school, I enrolled in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program at […]

Letting Go of the Status Quo to Put Students at the Center

As I became interested in school choice while working on my doctorate in education, I never anticipated it being a […]

2021 Legislative Session: Seven Issues We’re Working on for MN Kids

This legislative session, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Minnesota students, who have faced unprecedented disruption in their education. The […]

New MN Teacher Preparation Regulations Are Almost Done

For over a year, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) has been working to overhaul their process for […]

Stakeholders Raise Concerns Over Proposed Teacher Prep Rules

For over a year, the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB)—the state agency that oversees teacher licensure and prep—has […]

14 Key Questions for Parents to Ask to Help Navigate this School Year

This year, back-to-school will look different than ever before. With each district making a unique learning plan, how do you […]

Special Session Round-Two Ends with Nothing Accomplished for Students

Minnesota’s second special session adjourned Tuesday, with legislators coming to an agreement on a highly debated police accountability bill. But […]

Community Sounds Off at the Capitol on Distance Learning Barriers

In June, Minnesota’s House Education Policy and Finance committees came together for a series of informational hearings to better understand […]

A Call to Action on Racial Justice for Minnesota Students

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, conversations on racial justice have moved front and center. Given Minnesota’s startling opportunity […]

Ensuring Equity: Emergency Funds and Summer Learning on the Way for MN Schools

Last week, Governor Walz announced how he will prioritize Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act emergency support dedicated […]

Teacher Licensure During COVID-19: Barriers to Student Teaching, Renewals, and More

The COVID-19 crisis has caused ripple effects across the education system, raising significant questions and challenges for the teacher licensure […]

Minnesota, We Have a Problem: Students Need Internet Access for Distance Learning

Minnesota students have been distance learning for about a month and are set to continue through at least the remainder […]

Minnesota Distance Learning Plans by the Numbers

Last week, Governor Walz announced Minnesota school buildings will remain closed for the rest of the school year, elevating the […]

Why Distance Learning Can’t Always Come First: A Student Perspective

This post is the first in our Education at a Distance series, centering the voices of students, parents, and educators […]

MN Legislators Ready to Act on K-12: How House and Senate Proposals Compare

More than a week after Minnesota signed broad COVID-19 response legislation into law, the state’s House and Senate education committees […]

What Does the Federal CARES Act Mean for Education in MN?

After swift action to secure bipartisan agreement at the federal level, legislators passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security […]

MN Education During COVID-19: Legislative Action Coming

After going on hiatus March 17, legislators announced they will reconvene for one day. On Thursday, March 26 they will […]

What’s in the Governor’s Education Bill?

This week, legislators held a hearing on the Governor’s education policy bill (HF3186). The bill contains several policies that will […]

Talking Education Justice: A Recap of 8 Black Hands Live

Can integration, academic excellence, and parent choice coexist? Where do they fit in the fight for education justice? Chris Stewart, […]

Minnesota Leads the Charge in Counting All Kids

To help ensure all students get what they need to succeed, we need to measure how they are doing and […]

The Quiet Kids Still Need You

There are many benefits associated with having a diverse school staff. One that doesn’t get enough attention is how teachers […]

The 2019 Education Bill: What Made the Cut?

After going into overtime, the Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its work for the year proving, once again, that the only […]

7 Education Debates to Watch as the Legislature Wraps Up

With two weeks left in Minnesota’s 2019 legislative session (assuming we don’t head into a special session), our divided Legislature […]

Changes to Tiered Licensure Would Push Me Out of Public Schools

There’s been plenty of talk, and disagreement, about proposed changes to Minnesota’s new tiered licensure system: some people say the […]

Keep Great Teachers in the Classroom. Period.

With teachers being the most important in-school factor for student success, “Who should lead our classrooms?” is no small question. In answering […]

Hey Minnesota: Let’s Not Push Teachers of Color Out of the Classroom

This week, the Legislature held a hearing on HF 824, the Increase Teachers of Color Act, which seeks to double […]

What’s Working Best to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color in MN

The new 2019 Minnesota Teacher Supply and Demand report shines a light on Minnesota’s dire shortage of teachers of color, and […]

2019 Legislative Session: What We’re Working on for MN Kids

The 2019 state legislative session kicked off last Tuesday, and policymakers have already laid out some of their top policy […]

Can You Teach in MN? With Tiered Licensure, the Answer Should Now Be Clear

Minnesota’s teacher licensure system used to be broken, confusing, and especially unwelcoming to out-of-state educators. That is, until a new, […]

Shape Our Work for MN Students. Join Community Allies.

You are our ally. We want your help to inform our work for Minnesota students. At EdAllies, we work to […]

How is Your School Doing? How Parents Can Use “North Star”

Minnesota recently launched a completely new system for identifying struggling schools, and for supporting them to improve. Dubbed North Star, the […]

Final Countdown: Update on Minnesota’s Teacher Licensure Overhaul

I’ve been working on reforming Minnesota’s broken teacher licensure system for nearly a decade, so forgive me if I’m a […]

The Education Conference Report is Out: Here’s What You Need to Know

For the past week, a legislative conference committee has been working to reconcile the differences between education bills that the […]

Conference Committee is Under Way: Where do Key Education Issues Stand?

We’re nearing the end of another lively legislative session. In the coming weeks, the state’s senators and representatives will work […]

What Broadband Infrastructure’s Got to Do with Educational Equity

In conversations about opportunity gaps, I very rarely hear about one tool that has become increasingly critical to student success, […]

What’s the Legislature up to on Education? Your Mid-Session Recap

The 2018 state legislative session is well under way and education has again become a priority for our lawmakers. While […]

Why We’re Standing with Parents in Calling for Summative School Ratings

Working in education policy, I spend a lot of time navigating Minnesota’s school report card. As a community member, I […]

EdAllies at the Capitol: Our 2018 Priorities

The 2018 legislative session kicked off on Feb. 20, and since it’s a short session, things are already in full […]

Why I Want Teachers of Color for Minnesota Kids & What I’m Doing About It

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the importance of representation. Between the film “Black Panther,” and celebrations of […]

6 Tips to Help You Advocate for Your Child’s Education

As a parent, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how hard, and important, it is to advocate for […]

Caucus to Get Education Equity in Your Party’s Platform

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, Minnesota caucus-goers can shape their political parties’ priorities—and spark change for the state’s students and schools. […]

Urge Trump Administration to Close Discipline Disparities

Last Friday, the United States Commission on Civil Rights held a daylong hearing to investigate how school pushout disproportionately harms […]

An Open Letter to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board

Dear members of the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board: This morning, as I watched my two oldest kiddos jump […]

Engaging Youth and Using Alternatives to End School Pushout

Having recently graduated from high school after attending various schools across Minnesota, and interning this summer with a juvenile defense […]

Minnesota MCA Results Were Flat (Again). Where Do We Go From Here?

This Monday, when MDE released the 2017 MCA results, I was hoping for the best: Big gains in math and […]