Blog : 'Policy Updates' Category

Archive for the ‘Policy Updates’ Category

Reading Between the Lines: What the Read Act 2.0 Means for Your School Year

The start of a new school year brings excitement, nerves, and a host of possibilities. It also brings questions for […]

Cutting Through the Noise: What Mattered for Kids in the 2024 Legislative Session

The second year of a biennium often focuses on policy tweaks and a bonding bill as legislators have a shorter […]

Conference Committees Tackle Final Details on K-12 Bills. Will Key Provisions Get Across the Finish Line?

As the end of the legislative session approaches, lawmakers head into one of the final steps in the legislative process: […]

2024 Mid-Session Madness: Which Student-Centered Policies Will Advance?

Despite promises from lawmakers that this year would be much quieter than 2023’s legislative session, there’s been no shortage of […]

How Will New Legislation on Dangerous Holds in Schools Impact Students & Families?

The debate around prone restraint and school resource officers (SROs) has dominated education conversations at the Capitol this year. A […]

Parents—Save Those Receipts! Information on K-12 Tax Credits

Last year, Minnesota made major investments in children and families—both within the school walls and outside of them. There were […]

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 […]

Dangerous Hold Protections for Kids Are Simple and Don’t Need to be Repealed

The first bell had barely rung in the 2023 school year before students, parents, and educators were faced with a […]

Decoding Literacy Incentive Aid

After the passage of the Read Act in 2023, literacy in Minnesota is receiving renewed attention, as it should. Reading […]

What Can Families Expect to See from the READ Act?

You’ve probably heard a lot about the READ Act: the $75 million investment in literacy that lawmakers say will change […]

A Wrap on the 2023 Session: Tenacious DFL

Last week, Minnesota lawmakers wrapped up what many are calling an historic legislative session. With a record-setting budget surplus and […]

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 […]

At the Capitol, Dual Credit Programs Fail to Make the Cut

It’s been a busy few months at the Capitol and legislators are gearing up for the final sprint after their […]

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, […]

A Wrap on the 2022 Session: Nothing Happened in the Room Where it Happens

If a legislative body of 201 members, hundreds of staffers, and countless advocates spends four months drafting and debating legislation […]

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 […]

Buckle Up! A Unique Session Ahead with High Stakes for Kids

The 2022 legislative session is about to begin, and it’s shaping up to be a unique year. For the first […]

MDE Decides How They Will Spend ARP Money

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) is sending $1.3 billion in federal funding for K-12 COVID recovery to be spent in Minnesota over […]

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 […]

Governor Proposes Many Steps Forward, but a Few Back

During the legislative session, the Governor has two main tools to advance his policy priorities: a proposed budget outlining spending […]

What’s in the Governor’s Education Budget?

Late January, Governor Walz released a budget proposal with 428-pages on education. Many of the priorities tie back to his […]

Will the MN House Act on Racial Justice? Why I Shared My Story

Growing up as a Mexican-American in Minnesota, my experience in the public school system was, at a minimum, alienating and, […]

First House Education Hearings Include Proposals on COVID-19 Recovery

This week, the legislative session started kicking into gear with hearings on two bills that will invest in COVID-19 recovery […]

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 […]

Public Eye is on Education. Will this Translate to Action During Special Session?

This article was updated July 20 to reflect the introduction of HF96. For the second time this summer Governor Walz […]

Big Policies Pass in Special Session, But Much Work Remains

Last week, legislators came back for a one-week special session with a renewed call to address racial equity. Leaders brought […]

Minnesota Needs More Pathways Into the Classroom, But Concerns with PELSB Process Persist

In 2017, Minnesota changed state laws to allow alternative teacher preparation programs to operate outside of higher education. We’ve been […]

Flurry of Activity on Education During Special Session

Legislators came into special session last Friday with numerous priorities, hopes to advance several education policies that didn’t pass in […]

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 […]

Will Key COVID-19 Education Bill Pass Before Session Adjourns?

With under a week left of the regular legislative session, the Minnesota House and Senate are still working behind the […]

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 […]

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 […]

MN Education Policy in the Time of COVID-19

Just over a month ago, policymakers began the 2020 legislative session eager to advance a range of legislative priorities. Now, […]

March 2020 Research Rundown

Welcome to EdAllies’ March Research Rundown; our curated list of recent, relevant research we think is worth adding to the […]

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 […]

EdAllies’ 2020 Priorities at the Capitol

The 2020 legislative session starts today, and policymakers have already identified their top priorities for the year. At EdAllies, we’re […]

2019 Charter Legislative Update

During the 2019 legislative session, several bills passed with a direct impact on charter schools, and many more were considered […]

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 […]

3 Simple Ways to Make the Most of the MCAs

As a 15-year veteran public school teacher and a parent, I know just how important the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments are. […]

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, […]

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 […]

What Education Proposals Landed on the Governor’s Cutting Room Floor (and Why)

As the 2018 legislative session was winding down, I reported out on key provisions that the Legislature had proposed to […]

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 […]

USDOE: MN’s ESSA Plan Needs Work on School Quality & Equity

Is Minnesota doing enough to make sure low-income students and students of color have equitable access to effective teachers? Or […]

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 […]

Minnesota’s ESSA Plan: What Changed, What Didn’t, and What Still Can

This week, after a year and a half of planning, the Minnesota Department of Education submitted our state’s Every Student […]

Act Now: Call for Stronger Accountability and Transparency Under ESSA

By now, you’ve probably heard that the Minnesota Department of Education has released its draft plan for the federal Every […]

Your Voice Needed: ESSA Plan Open to Public Comment

After over a year of community meetings and committees, the Minnesota Department of Education has released its draft plan to […]

A Call for Transparency in MN’s ESSA Plan

Last week, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) presented to the Legislature its draft plan for the Every Student Succeeds […]

ICYMI: 6 Education Policy Changes to Watch

Although Minnesota’s 2017 legislative session has technically been over for weeks, the Legislature and governor have some lingering disagreements, which […]

Progress (Finally) for Teacher Prep in Minnesota

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery,” quipped […]

An Unprecedented End of Session: What We Know (and What We Don’t)

Although the dust is still settling on the 2017 state legislative session, I wanted to provide a brief update on […]

Take 2: A Guide to Proposed Teacher Licensure Changes

Last week, I wrote about HF140, a bipartisan proposal to make teacher licensure more transparent, clarify and, in many ways, […]

A Guide to Proposed Teacher Licensure Changes

Last year, a groundbreaking report from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Affairs confirmed what educators and their advocates had long […]

So, What Would the Proposed Teacher Licensure Overhaul Actually Do?

What a recent Pioneer Press article said represents, “one of the biggest reforms to state education policy in recent history,” […]

Gov. Dayton Vetoed the Education Funding Bill. Now What?

On Friday, Gov. Dayton vetoed HF890, the omnibus E-12 education appropriations bill. While this bill got a lot right for […]

Why We Support Expanding School Choice—If Done Right

As Minnesota legislators debate if and how to create “Opportunity Scholarships” for low-income children to attend independent schools, I can’t […]

Capitol Update: What’s Happening with Teacher Licensure, Early Learning, & More

Since the 2017 state legislative kicked off in January, EdAllies has been working to ensure that state legislators do what’s […]