Most Minnesota districts begin a new school year today, less than a week after state officials released the latest test scores which showed little improvement in reading and math, and a persistent achievement gap between students of color and their white counterparts. Charlie Weaver with the Minnesota Business Partnership says despite millions of new state dollars to school districts, student performance has not improved. “What we’ve done is put money into school districts but we’ve lowered accountability. We’ve put money into school districts but we’ve lowered expectations,” he says.
Weaver blames the Education Minnesota teachers union for lobbying lawmakers to protect the status quo. Ed Minnesota President Denise Specht responds under the newly-launched “North Star Accountability System,” community members will be able to write plans for their local schools. She says, “If that’s what the community that put the plan together says that they need, are we going to ignore it? Are we going to suddenly call them protectors of the status quo?”