Once again, schools across Minnesota are proposing cuts or property tax increases to balance their budgets. It is not because we are short on cash, but because schools are drowning in Democrat mandates.
Despite a historic and massive $2.2 billion boost to the state education budget last year, schools across Minnesota are still pinched because the Democrat majority in the Minnesota legislature, along with Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, decided to pile on 65 expensive new mandates that have crushed school budgets and handcuffed local school officials.
None of these mandates will help us do a better job of educating students – a job we have been failing at for years. Look at the numbers — less than half of Minnesota students are meeting basic reading and math standards. Since 2019, math scores have been on a steady decline. Reading scores have been declining since 2014.
This is not just a post-pandemic blip; it is a clear trend of failure under Democrat policies that prioritize ticking boxes and political agendas in the classroom over teaching kids.
In contrast, Republicans have always pushed for real, practical solutions. Our “Students’ First” plan of 2023 would have been a game changer, designed to cut the red tape and give schools the freedom they desperately need to make decisions that actually benefit their students.
When we started getting calls and emails about the damage that Democrat mandates were doing to school budgets, we came up with a proposal this year to give local schools the option to take relief from the extreme mandates for a few years. It would allow them to get their budgets under control, plan for the future, and put together an education program that would best serve the unique needs of their students and staff.
Of course, Democrats shot those ideas down, choosing instead to keep their tight grip on control — effectively turning the state legislature into an inefficient, heavy-handed statewide school board.
It is absurd to think that politicians in St. Paul know better than teachers in classrooms. Every school, every district has its own unique needs that cannot be managed by one-size-fits-all mandates from bureaucrats hundreds of miles away. Yet, that is exactly what is happening. Democrats continue to impose their will, leaving local educators to sort out the mess, distracting them from their real job: giving students the best education possible.
Democrat policies are failing our students. Teachers and local school officials are bogged down with mandates instead of being empowered to teach kids the fundamentals they need in order to be successful throughout their school careers and into adulthood.
If we want to stop the academic slide and give kids the education they deserve, we need to get back to the basics of reading, math, and science instruction. We need to get serious about eliminating mandates and tossing out bureaucratic red tape. And we need to prioritize the success of our students over divisive political agendas in the classroom.