All Minnesota students deserve an excellent education from world-class schools. Unfortunately, years of chronically underfunding schools has led to opportunities for our children being put in jeopardy. Our E-12 Education budget gets us back on the right track with significant investments in our schools, with a 3% increase in the first year of the biennium, and 2% in the second. For Mounds View Public Schools, this would result in an additional $4.2 million in the first year, and another $2.5 in the following year. This budget helps reduce the burden on local property tax payers.
On top of the historic funding for public schools, I’m excited by some of the strategies within the budget to strengthen students’ futures. One of these is the expansion of school-linked mental health grants. Under this model, school-linked providers co-locate at a school, providing clinical level mental health treatment within the school walls. Nearly every teacher I've talked to, and many students and families, have mentioned to me the increasing and unmet mental health needs of our students. Minnesota currently ranks toward the bottom of states in student-to-counselor ratios. Our budget empowers schools to hire additional student support staff, such as licensed counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses. These will all improve Minnesota students’ ability to succeed in both the classroom and in the community. |
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