American Experiment update

News of note in Minnesota: Center events, initiatives, and policy work.

Events  

American Experiment co-hosted the Twin Cities’ Education Freedom Expo on May 4. The event took place at the Shoreview Community Center and was co-sponsored by the Minnesota Parents Alliance (MPA), Opportunity for All Kids (OAK), and the State Policy Network (SPN). Education fellow Catrin Wigfall was a featured speaker. The allday open house for educators, parents, community members, and administrators also included local exhibitors representing private, home, micro, and charter schools. It also featured a variety of hybrid and permissionless models for cooperative learning as alternatives to traditional K-12 public education. 

Kerry McDonald, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education and author of the 2019 book, Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, was the keynote speaker.  

Wigfall also appeared as the keynote speaker at the Education Freedom Expo for the Mankato area on April 18. Attendees could visit educational booths and hear from many local private, religious, charter, homeschool, and education support representatives.  

On May 31, adjunct policy fellow Bill Glahn and marketing and communications director Bill Walsh led a webinar on what happened in St. Paul during the latest legislative session. During the onehour livestream, they offered their initial thoughts and insights.  

Glahn and American Experiment president John Hinderaker hosted a webinar providing an update on the COVID19-related Feeding Our Future scandal. In a noon webinar on June 14, they broke down the verdicts and explained how two defendants were acquitted. Glahn also looked at what could come next, including the trial of former Feeding Our Future employee Aimee Bock. 

Greater Minnesota  

Center economist Martha Njolomole and marketing and communications director Bill Walsh conducted events in Alexandria and Detroit Lakes on April 25 and Duluth on May 9. They delivered a presentation on Njolomole’s welfare spending report, “A Ticking Time Bomb: Minnesota’s vast and expanding welfare system.” Says Njolomole of engagement with Minnesotans outside the metro area, “As a researcher, nothing is as encouraging as meeting audiences all across Greater Minnesota that are working to make Minnesota freer, more prosperous, and a better-governed state.” Through Greater Minnesota outreach efforts, American Experiment established its sixth chapter in St. Cloud.  

Policy work  

Senior policy fellow Peter Nelson released his latest report, “What the Medicaid Undercount Reveals About the Medicaid ‘Unwinding’” on May 24. Nelson analyzes Medicaid enrollment data during the COVID-19 pandemic era and shortly thereafter, and explains the ballooning costs of the government program and declining enrollment — or unwinding — as it relates to unused benefits.  

All of the Center’s reports are available on our website (AmericanExperiment.org/reports).