Senate Report, By Dan Sparks

As the 2016 legislative session moves forward, one of the issues that is always a priority is education. Education priorities are taking shape as well, and my colleagues in the E-12 committee recently unveiled a slate of bills that are their priorities for 2016. The legislation was especially focused on teacher quality, training and development.

One of the issues facing our state is a shortage of high-quality teachers. Our baby boomers are retiring, and this means many of our most experienced teachers are leaving the classroom. This new demand for teachers must be filled if our students will succeed. The recently unveiled Teacher Shortage Act includes several initiatives to help address this. The act includes grants for students who are student teaching in shortage areas (math, science and special education), expanding the existing teacher loan forgiveness program, as well as an expansion of the Grow Your Own program, which provides paraprofessionals a pathway to teacher licensure.

A second focus is ensuring our students have the support staff they need to succeed in school, be emotionally and mentally prepared and plan for college. Minnesota currently ranks 46th in the nation for our student-to-counselor ratio. We should do better than this. Counselors offer needed student support services that range from serving the social and emotional needs of students to helping prepare them to learn in the classroom. Minnesota spends just 2.6 percent of our education dollars on pupil support, a smaller portion than every other state.

The third area is looking at more ways to ensure our early education opportunities are available for our earliest learners. While we have made great progress in expanding all-day kindergarten, there are other ways we can help early learning. There is a consensus that a greater focus on early education leads to more young people being prepared for kindergarten, and several proposals exist to address this. These include increasing aid to the early childhood home visiting program, and another is for half-day pre-K for all Minnesota 4-year-olds. However, until we know our budget targets, specific proposals with large price tags will be on hold until we have a better idea of how much money we will be able to invest this session.

Thankfully, supporting the right policies and investments in our education network is a priority shared by all Minnesotans. We know every student deserves a high-quality education, from early learning through high school. I look forward to working with my colleagues to help ensure Minnesota’s students and schools are supported.

If you have questions or concerns about legislation and the session, I encourage you to contact my office at 651-296-9248 or at sen.dan.sparks@senate.mn.

 

Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, is the District 27 senator.