Minnesota Legislative Outlook, 2007
Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) announced in his State of the State address that he wants to increase funding by 2% for schools that achieve and maintain a “3-Star” rating in the state’s assessment system. He also proposed doling out $75 million to schools that meet his 3-R (rigor, relevance, results) standard. Advocates for rural schools charge that these initiatives will reward schools with the least challenging student populations and put small schools at a disadvantage. Volatility in testing results in small schools could make it difficult for them to maintain a 3-Star rating, and smaller poorer schools could have a hard time competing with large wealthy schools on standard measures of curriculum breadth. Pawlenty was re-elected to a second term as Governor in November.