Education

Education coverage includes what's working, what's not working, how our kids are doing, how our college students are paying for their educations, the achievement gaps, teachers, students, parents, district schools, charter schools, private schools — and your contributions and opinions are welcome. 

Our weekly Education Newsletter highlights articles, blog posts, events, and links. For example, look for lots of links to thoughtful discussions of education issues from Beth Hawkins at MinnPost and Diane Ravitch at Education Week.

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Click here to see current and archived issues. 

House passes higher education budget that would freeze tuition

By Sarah Lemagie, Session Daily

Rep. Gene Pelowski, chair of the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee, talks with Rep. Kathy Brynaert before the start of session April 25 where the omnibus higher education finance bill was debated. (Photo by Paul Battaglia)

In a vote that some lawmakers hailed as a first step toward curbing the rising costs of college, the House on Thursday passed an omnibus bill that would freeze tuition for two years at both of Minnesota’s public higher education systems.

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OPINION | K-12's funding renaissance

By John Van Hecke, Minnesota 2020

Knowledge is power. Knowledge is also a job path to prosperity and stability. Prosperity and stability flow from the purposeful application of knowledge to public and personal circumstance. The sooner we realize that expanding knowledge builds a better, growing Minnesota, the sooner we’ll get there.

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Chelsea Heights: The village that built a St. Paul playground

By Kristal Leebrick, Park Bugle

Chelsea Heights Elementary School students will see a new playground erected outside their school windows on May 1 and 2.

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Parent Aware rates childcare programs in St. Paul and statewide

By Karintha Lowe, TC Daily Planet

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt, published under Creative Commons license. 

Looking for childcare in St. Paul? Parent Aware has rated 83 childcare programs, assigning one to four stars to each. The map below shows all of the centers, ratings, and contact information. A pilot program started in 2007 and adopted by the state of Minnesota in 2011, the Parent Aware Child Care Rating System provides parents with resources to make informed choices about childcare options in their local communities. 

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Race and stupidity

By Mary Turck, News Day

Most-read and most-commented articles this week focused on race, schools and politics. (Where's the stupidity? Wait for it ...)

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Dean Eric Schwartz, nominated to Commission on International Religious Freedom, heads Humphrey with humility

By Alma Pronove, The Minnesota Daily

University Dean of Humphrey School of Public Affairs Eric Schwartz on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in his office. Schwartz was recently nominated to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which monitors different circumstances overseas where religious freedom is endangered. (Photo by Jaak Jensen)

On a shelf in a large office overlooking the University of Minnesota West Bank sits a framed photograph of two men.

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Another principal on leave in Minneapolis: New focus of racial tensions at Green Central Park school

By Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet

Principal Catalina Salas, left, and Area C Associate Superintendent Theresa Battle, right, are at the center of the Green Central Park Elementary controversy. 

Principal Catalina Salas, of Richard R.

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House passes omnibus K-12 education budget

By Sarah Lemagie, Session Daily

Rep. Paul Marquart talks with House Majority Leader Erin Murphy during debate on the omnibus education finance bill April 23. (Photo by Paul Battaglia)

The House has passed a funding plan for Minnesota schools that features full state funding for voluntary all-day kindergarten.

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Higher education budget bills focus on making college affordable

By Caitlin Biegler, Minnesota Budget Bites

By 2018, Minnesota’s employers are expected to require one of the most highly educated workforces in the nation, with 70 percent of jobs needing some education beyond high school. The House and Senate help prepare us to meet those needs by investing in higher education in their omnibus higher education bills.

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Minnesota Budget Bites

Take the useful, leave the rest

By Emily Wade, Macalester Orange

On the first day of my philosophy class at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Geshe Kelsang Wangmo-la begun her presentation of the Buddha’s life with an assurance that despite her maroon monastic robes and closely shaven head, she was not there to convert anyone. Instead, Geshe-la instructed us to listen over the coming months with an open mind. “Take the bits you find useful,” she said, “and just leave the rest.”

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Macalester Orange
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