Governor Tim Walz announces this afternoon (2pm) whether Minnesota’s public schools will return to classroom instruction this fall, stay with distance-learning, or a mix of the two. Denise Specht, head of the Education Minnesota teachers union, says she believes some schools are ready to fully re-open because they have classrooms large enough to accommodate spacing, plus other resources. But Specht says, “I do know that there are some schools that are just not ready to open…. Perhaps they don’t have enough staff. Perhaps they haven’t figured out busing. Maybe they don’t have enough cleaning supplies to start.”
Republican lawmakers have been pressuring the governor to leave the decision to individual school districts. But others argue the state must have at least some oversight to ensure that students are safe when school resumes, in whatever form. Bw at the Cap.)