Democrats in the Minnesota Senate attempted a number of amendments but the Republican majority said “no”, passing an E-12 education bill this afternoon (Tues) with no funding increase for public schools, focusing instead on students’ poor reading scores. Rochester Republican Carla Nelson contends more money has not solved that problem, pointing to: “2019: …historic education funding. 2021: again, historic education funding.”
Shoreview Democrat Jason Isaacson fired back, “I’ve heard a couple of my friends across the aisle crowing in almost a bragging nature about the money they’ve spent, when the reality was, when their budget first came up it had zero dollars in the [education] formula.”
House Democrats and Governor Tim Walz have proposed significant funding increases for public schools. Republicans and Democrats must now try to reach a compromise with under three weeks remaining in the legislative session.