K-12 Education
Issue
What reforms are necessary to ensure that Minnesota’s K-12 education system is preparing students to meet the demands of our global economy and domestic workforce needs?
Policy
Support increased academic accountability
- Our state academic standards should be measured against international standards and reported to the public. To this end, Minnesota should continue to participate in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to determine how we compare against the rest of the world and, based on results, decide if we need to revise our standards.
- For system accountability, continue statewide testing that determines overall school progress toward meeting or exceeding the state’s academic standards. Test results should be reported on a timely basis to students, schools and the public so they can be used for improving achievement.
- Continue to support a value-added assessment model to gauge individual student progress toward proficiency on grade-level standards.
Support increased financial accountability.
- The education funding formula should continue to be student based, rather than program based, with adjustments made for student demographics such as new language learners and poverty.
- Education funding, including operating levy referenda dollars, must continue to follow students to the school of their choice and be accounted for at that school site. Options or choices such as open enrollment, post-secondary options and charter school enrollment should be funded from the state’s general fund and K-12 budget, just as now is done for school districts.
- Support a site-based management system, where school site councils decide the deployment of their resources (funding and personnel) based on the goals of the school site. The school site council and district should jointly determine where economies of scale such as purchasing supplies can be used to lower costs. In those instances where no site council is formed, the district would continue to administer funds and make personnel decisions. Site councils should operate under performance agreements with the school board to ensure that they are achieving their academic goals.
- Ensure that a new funding formula does not create disincentives for students to participate in post-secondary enrollment options and early graduation. At present, districts lose a large portion of the funding linked to the student’s attendance.
- Protect and maintain the structural balance law to ensure that districts control expenditures and budgets.
- Allow for new business arrangements. School boards should focus on setting policy and should have flexibility for contracting with employees (i.e. Q Comp, teaching cooperatives) contracting for building maintenance or building space, contracting for food service, etc.
Support choice and innovation.
- Support improving educational outcomes and investments to measure Minnesota students against international standards. Proposals such as extending the school year, all-day kindergarten and early childhood development are options aimed at improving our educational system. Before these and other alternatives are considered, we need to know where Minnesota students stand in academic achievement compared with the rest of the world. Once this is determined, the business community supports setting goals for student achievement and then choosing the most cost-efficient method of achieving higher outcomes. Advocates should demonstrate to policy-makers, the business community and the public why their proposals present the most cost-effective method toward achieving set goals.
- Continue support of charter schools, post-secondary enrollment options, open enrollment, and education tax credits and deductions as important options for students interested in alternative learning environments to the traditional K-12 schools. The Minnesota Chamber supports a robust public education system; these alternatives help to make it so.
- Expand on-line learning so students in rural districts have access to subjects that may be cost-prohibitive for those districts to provide in the classroom. Declining enrollment funding (i.e. sparsity aid) could be redirected to on-line learning programs and equipment.
- Create partnerships with the higher education system, especially in rural areas, so K-12 students can use classroom, library or laboratory space. Develop ways in which the K-12 system can deliver services using those public facilities, thereby maximizing their use and reducing the need for capital improvement levies.
- Create specialized charter sponsors based around a specific academic focus or purpose. For example, some districts could be formed to address declining enrollment, or have a technology or arts focus. This idea is intended to help solve the problem many charter schools face in finding sponsors with the time, resources and expertise to devote to the school. Sponsors for charter schools typically are higher-education institutions or nonprofit organizations whose main focus are their own operations, not specific to operating K-12 schools.
Business Impact
While many students in Minnesota perform exceptionally well on standardized tests and graduate on time, an unacceptable number of students fail to learn the basics. Employers continue to report that students are simply unprepared for workplace demands. The recent Minnesota Business Barometer Survey, (350 businesses polled) found that only 22 percent thought high school graduates were prepared to enter the workforce. Minnesota’s public post-secondary institutions reported that, in 2003, 36 percent of accepted Minnesota high school graduates needed at least one remedial course.
With the two main consumers of K-12 graduates reporting that there is room for improvement in the system based on the quality of the output, it comes as no surprise that 41 percent of the Business Barometer respondents believe public schools need to reprioritize spending to improve schools. Employers expect better results for the significant public investment made in the K-12 system.
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