A Minnesota Senate committee on Monday reviewed continued problems with overall student test scores plus the “achievement gap” affecting children of color — but steered clear of a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee all children the right to a quality public education. Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said he knows it wasn’t the topic of the hearing, “but we do think elevating education so that it’s a civil right for all Minnesota children would be a way of breaking through.” Former Supreme Court Justice Alan Page told lawmakers, “We can’t afford, I don’t think, to continue to allow what’s happening, to happen.”
But Education Minnesota teachers union president Denise Specht warns, “What this proposed amendment does, is it removes the mandate for the state to pay for public education.”