The GOP's K-12 solutions

This morning, I wrote this post about Walter Hudson's weekly legislative update, which focused on the DFL's stubbornness on K-12 education. I shortchanged Rep. Hudson in that post so I'm adding Rep. Hudson's (and the House GOP's) alternative to the DFL's proposals.

Further into Hudson's legislative update, he wrote "That mindset is now baked into the Democrats’ current K-12 education proposal. They refuse to roll back the more than 65 new mandates they forced on schools last year. On top of that, they're proposing cuts to funding for charter and non-public schools, redirecting those dollars to the Department of Education so it can apply even more micromanagement to your local public schools."

If your school district hired a sharp superintendent, there's no need to micromanage local schools. Period. If your school district didn't hire a sharp superintendent, then it's time to fire him/her.

Republicans are offering a different approach. Our proposal cuts funding to unaccountable nonprofits and instead sends that money directly to school districts in the form of flexible, local aid that allows administrators to meet the unique needs of their students and communities. We can’t afford to shower our education system with more money, especially with a $6 billion shortfall on the state’s horizon. But we can free up existing funds and let schools prioritize based on what works best locally.

It comes down to this: Republicans want to cut mandates to fund schools. Democrats want to cut schools to keep their mandates. Why? Because Democrats don’t trust you to run your own schools. They’re beholden to the Department of Education and Education Minnesota, two groups that continue to ignore feedback from teachers, principals, superintendents, and parents. Instead, they're playing political games that grow their own influence while our education ssystem struggles.

Bill Clinton, the best Democrat president of the past half-century, teamed with Newt Gingrich and Gov. Tommy Thompson to eliminate unfunded mandates. After that bipartisan bill, educational outcomes improved. In Minnesota, our test scores have been dropping since before COVID. Einstein noted that doing the same thing but expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

This the House GOP's press availability on K-12 Education:

The DFL hasn't changed because Education Minnesota won't give them permission to do what's best for students. The DFL is cheating Minnesota's students by putting the union ahead of students. It's time for Minnesota to make a long-term change.