From eliminating single-use plastic items to pressing school boards to commit to 100 percent clean energy, Minnesota students are changing how schools respond to climate change.
Parents and students from two south-side Minneapolis schools — Barton Open (K-8 magnet) and Windom (K-5 Spanish Dual-Immersion magnet) — filled the school board meeting room Tuesday evening.
The state is spending money to find solutions to some of higher ed’s biggest problems.
Minnesota’s projected $1.33 billion surplus has given education activists a renewed sense of hope that they’ll secure greater investments in everything from teacher diversity efforts to school safety.
A brief rundown of five education issues to watch as you consider candidates’ education platforms — whether they’re running for school board, the Legislature or any other public office.
“If it can happen at St. Cloud, it can happen anywhere,” said Minnesota State Athletics Director Kevin Buisman.
What started out earlier this year as a promise to slow things down has evolved into more of a redesign overhaul.
Online programs allow students to plug away at their own speed on problems matched to their individual learning needs — a format that works well for some students. But there are also pitfalls.
In 2018, 42.7 percent of 18 to 24-year-old Minnesotans who are U.S. citizens voted in the midterm election, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s the lowest turnout of any age group in Minnesota and is only about two-thirds of statewide turnout for all age groups.
Research has shown that children from low- and moderate-income families with a college savings of $500 or less are three times more likely to attend college and four times more likely to graduate than those without any college savings.
Legally, the rooms must be used only for emergency situations. During the 2016-17 school year, 70 districts reported 7,085 incidents of seclusion that involved 965 students.
The experience exposes the risks, rewards of increasingly popular free-tuition programs.
“I just think we’re gonna lose this generation if we don’t deal with it,” said Ann Lindberg-Borgen, chemical health coordinator for the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Area Schools district.
Supporters of a moratorium say charters are siphoning students and funding from the district and furthering segregation in the schools. Opponents say district schools are failing many students.
A handful of districts across the state will be spending the coming months unpacking voters’ rejection of their referendum asks and preparing to make cuts to programming and staffing.
The district has a contract with a company, whose name it wouldn’t disclose, to monitor social media, but didn’t appear to inform teachers, students or parents about the program.
Those who lost special education services were 52 percentage points less likely to graduate high school and 38 points less likely to enroll in college as a result, according to the study.
Newcomers Chauntyll Allen and Jessica Kopp won seats, and incumbents Zuki Ellis and Steve Marchese kept theirs in Tuesday’s election.
On Tuesday, voters across the Twin Cities will be weighing in on several ballot measures while also choosing mayors and City Council members in several cities.
But fewer students are paying the full tuition. Is widespread discounting helping more people afford higher education, or just making it more complicated?
