St. Paul, MN – House GOP Education Leads Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, and Rep. Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton, issued the following statement after passage of House File 1065, the Education Omnibus bill. The bill passed 73-60 and includes no plan to return students to in-person learning.
“Our job is to make sure students have great teachers and the opportunity to learn effectively,” said Kresha. “Unfortunately, this bill doesn’t live up to that mission. It will prevent good teachers from being able to advance their licensure and make it harder to retain the most effective teachers. It does nothing to address learning loss from the last year of distance learning, and funds bureaucrats over classrooms. Our teachers and students deserve better than this.”
In addition to no plan for a return to in-person learning, the bill, by Democrats’ own admission, is focused on “equity and inclusion” instead of rigorous standards and high academic achievement. It rolls back reforms to the Tiered Licensing System, closing off pathways for teachers of color to enter and remain in the classroom, forces good teachers out of the classroom by restoring “Last In, First Out”, and provides a 10% funding increase for bureaucrats.
“Minnesota students have suffered tremendous emotional harm and the academic trajectory of an entire generation of students has been stunted because of disruptions caused by the pandemic,” said Erickson. “Instead of prioritizing getting students back in the classroom, Democrats are putting the interests of bureaucrats ahead of Minnesota students. Families expect children to have access to a world-class education. Sadly, this bill is a step backwards.”
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