Senator Paul Anderson (R-Plymouth) joined a bipartisan coalition of senators in introducing a series of reforms to strengthen Minnesota’s special education policies, alleviate unnecessary burdens on teachers, put the focus back on students, and save school districts money in the process. The proposals are expected to save special education teachers up to fifty-two hours of paperwork per student every year, or up to nineteen weeks for a class of fifteen students, by reducing burdensome administrative requirements.
“In all my discussions with educators and school districts in our community, nearly every conversation involves the topic of rising special education costs and unnecessary burdens placed on teachers,” said Senator Anderson. “Special education teachers enter the profession because they love caring for, and educating, students. However, all too often, they find themselves saddled with paper work instead of teaching in the classroom. Through these bipartisan solutions, we aim to fix that problem by putting the student’s needs first and giving our teachers the ability to do the work they thought they were signing up for in the first place.”
A bipartisan group of senators challenged school administrators last session to suggest concrete ideas to improve special education services for students. The Minnesota School Boards Association and New Ulm School District were especially helpful in crafting suggestions for the committee to review over several meetings held last summer and fall. The bipartisan proposals will also help curtail rising costs that are eating into funding for other school programs, since special education is one of the fastest-growing areas of school districts’ budgets.