The education budget Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently signed into law was passed during the legislature's special session.
The $48 billion budget ended up being a compromise between Republicans and Democrats. Minnesota Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker says it goes a long way to making Minnesota the education rich state it aspires to be. The budget contains funding for tribal contract schools, it increases the basic education funding formula four times more than the Senate initially wanted, and includes a cross-subsidy for special education to ensure it is fully funded. Governor Walz says the budget makes education attractive in Minnesota for both students and educators.
"We want Minnesota, when people think across this nation - where would I like to send my kids to public schools, it would be in Minnesota. And if I'm a young teacher, just like what brought my wife and I to Mankato, where do we want to teach? A place where we're valued, a place where there's the resources and opportunity to innovate in your own classroom to make a difference. And that's Minnesota."
The budget also ensures the retainer of four thousand pre-kindergarten seats throughout the state.