Gov. Mark Dayton outlined a sweeping vision for Minnesota's education system on Friday morning, featuring a host of broad plans but few specifics.
Most prominently, Dayton said his budget will include an increase in K-12 education, though he declined to say whether that would be done by paying back shifted money. He deferred any more specifics on the budget until Feb. 15.
The plan's major points would establish a legislative commission to assess school funding formulas, expand all-day kindergarten, attempt to close the achievement gap, reduce the amount of required testing, enforce a law saying students must read by third grade, support some form of alternative licensure and "examine new accountability measures based on growth."
What kind of accountability measures? Dayton and Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius were focused more on encouragement than consequences.
On third grade reading, for example, Cassellius said after the press conference that she's "not a big one about punishment"
"I guess the consequences would be more around doing more, and using more of their funds and being able to plan more around third grade reading," Cassellius said. "And we'd be asking them to do more strategies."
See the full plan below.
