Friends and neighbors –

The Minnesota Department of Education has released a new round of student test scores that show students continue to lag behind pre-Covid levels in literacy and math. Year-over-year results mostly flatlined. Results show just 50% of students can read and 45% are proficient in math across the state. That’s a drop of about 10% in each area since 2019, when scores were already trending downward.

It is yet another alarming report on student performance, but it’s not surprising. Extreme Democratic mandates and classroom distractions like CRT have hampered student progress. We need less politics around schools and a relentless focus on academics.

Remember: Schools sounded the alarm this year that the mandates in the Democrats' education bills along with their one-party control agenda would leave schools underfunded. One suburban superintendent told his school board, “This is potentially one of the most damaging sessions I’ve seen since I’ve been a superintendent.”

Republicans have a better plan. During the 2023 session, we proposed the Students’ First plan which funded students without mandates and put $100 million towards literacy training for teachers and students to get them back on track.

Please let me know if you have any questions.