Dear Friends,

I had more wonderful meetings with constituents this week. It was great catching up with Stillwater Area Schools leadership and school board at the State Capitol (pictured right). I am excited about the invigorated leadership Dr. Michael Funk and his team have for ISD 834 excellence in education.

This week, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on education policy. We need to empower parents, teachers, and school boards to work together to meet the individual needs of every student. Last week, House and Senate Republicans released our ?Reading RESET? plan to make sure every student is proficient at reading. From personal experience, I know how difficult it can be to help our kids read. Our plan includes:

• Funding for schools that would like to replace the ineffective literacy materials they are currently using and purchase proven science of reading curriculum and instructional materials and books;
• Funding for teacher training and professional development in the science of reading, and
• Funding for tutoring to help struggling students who have fallen behind in reading.

I hope we can work together this session to make transformational changes in Minnesota?s education policy. To learn more about some of my ideas, click my picture below.