Preschool initiatives are dominating budget discussions in Minnesota, with proposals ranging from early education allowances for families to send their children to any approved program, private or public, to focused dollars to increase capacity of programs for low-income children. Another proposal has been floated that would fund family aid programs, including counseling and training.
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.