Graduation rates dipped slightly for Black, Asian and Latino students and students learning English.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota schools are poised to get more money and more flexibility to boost the state’s new approach to teaching reading. Schools have a few years to implement an evidence-based program that resembles phonics after the READ Act passed last year.

Governor Tim Walz today signed a bill into law amending education budget appropriations enacted during the 2023 legislative session.

Some things changed; some things stayed the same in the education policy bill. The House Education Policy Committee approved HF3782, as replaced by a delete-all amendment and further amended, Thursday evening and sent it to the House Floor.

New legislation would prohibit banning books in public and school libraries based on content or subjective objections. The bill, which some are calling ‘a ban on book bans,’ has been introduced in both the Minnesota House and the Minnesota Senate.

Higher education policy is going through an adjustment period. Changes put forth in the higher education policy bill are primarily about revising policies already in place, with the bill mostly matching how it was presented to the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee on March 14.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (GRAY) – A new bill from Minnesota Senate Republicans aims to adjust the timeline on certain education mandates to lower costs for school districts statewide. The bill comes on the heels last year’s historic $2.2 billion education bill, a bill that included money for districts across the state. Republicans claim that despite the investment, there isn’t enough money to keep schools up to date with new education mandates.

A 2023 law is transforming the way reading is taught in Minnesota schools, but teachers need time, resources and funding to complete their training and implementation of the act.

A slew of potential education policies and changes are planned to be up for a vote by the House Education Policy Committee in a couple days.

“Due to the blessing that has come in the form of the Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship, I am able to overcome the staggering financial difficulties previously preventing me from pursuing my dreams,” he told the House Education Finance Committee Wednesday.

What’s the No. 1 request school boards have to the Minnesota School Boards Association the last two years? Library book policy, according to Terry Morrow, director of legal and policy services for the Minnesota School Boards Association.

Sen. Omar Fateh, DFL-Minneapolis, this week withdrew a bill (SF4096/HF3832) that would have appropriated $1 million toward Teach for America Twin Cities “to address the challenge of recruiting, training, and retaining teachers in the state.” At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, there were hundreds of vacant teaching positions in the Twin Cities, along with hundreds more in greater Minnesota.