In 1997, Minnesota enacted a K-12 education tax credit as part of a bipartisan compromise. A special session was called to resolve a stalemate over K-12 education funding, resulting in…
North Dakota will soon be experimenting with team-taught classroom models. The Peace Garden state recently became the first state in the nation to be approved by the U.S. Department of…
A new interactive tool from Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab gives school leaders, parents, and community members the ability to assess how public school staffing has changed in recent years. The…
Minnesota consistently ranks among the highest-taxed states in the country. At the same time, per-pupil public education spending continues to rise, even as academic outcomes remain underwhelming. For parents, this…
Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data, highlighted by The Washington Post, show that for the first time in decades, workers with associate degrees or skilled trades training now experience lower…
The National Blue Ribbon school certification has been a national recognition of high performance and excellence since 1982. The program, jointly administered by theU.S. Department of Education (USED) and state…
The headline from a Keith Ellison press release sent out back on Friday, Attorney General Ellison secures agreement with Trump Administration to protect $530 million in Minnesota education funding. To…
What students study in college shapes not only their career prospects but also their political views, according to a new working paper from the Social Science Research Network. After examining…
When parents choose a school for their child, there are numerous factors that come into play. Who is the child and what are their needs? How close is the school,…
The $7k for Kids campaign enjoyed a big night at precinct caucuses as over 1,000 precincts debated and passed a resolution adding Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) to the state party…
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2026 issue of Thinking Minnesota magazine. Is having a four-year degree still relevant and necessary in today’s world? For years, a four-year college…
As school districts across Minnesota continue to grapple with the logistic and financial challenges of the state government’s many (80+) unfunded mandates, a new hurdle has arisen for districts: navigating…
In a world where education increasingly determines economic opportunity and social mobility, understanding how well education systems perform and whom they serve is important. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and…
Student performance data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the nation’s most widely recognized benchmark of academic achievement, measuring reading and math in 4th and 8th grade…
Eden Prairie High School English teacher Linda Wallenberg has been named a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. Wallenberg is in her 50th year of teaching. Wallenberg is no stranger…
A recent paper released by the Reason Foundation noted that Minnesota ranks fifth in the nation for inflation-adjusted teacher salary growth from 2002-2022. The average Minnesota teacher salary in 2002…
Something important is happening in education policy, and it isn’t coming from Washington mandates or teachers’ union talking points. It’s coming from states embracing a landmark expansion of educational opportunity…
Maxwell Fjeld’s story, shared in The Hechinger Report, illustrates the transformative potential of Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program. By completing his associate degree while still in high school, Fjeld not only…
Welfare fraud in Minnesota under Governor Tim Walz may total $9 billion, according to U.S. prosecutors. The good news is that we know the government can pull public funds preemptively,…
One of the highest aspirations of the public school system is to educate students from all backgrounds, colors, creeds, and income levels. Sometimes, it’s easy for students to have their…
One way to assess Minnesota’s high school educational prowess is to look at ACT scores throughout the years. Originally a primarily Midwestern alternative to the SAT, the ACT is a college admittance…
New polling suggests that there is broad bipartisan support in Minnesota for a bell-to-bell cell phone ban in the classroom. The numerous harms connected to unfettered access to the digital…
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced she will opt the state in to the new federal education tax-credit program, set to take effect January 2027. Iowa joins seven other states…
In the unfolding story of American education recovery, one striking narrative has emerged: Several southern states have climbed the national rankings in academic performance more quickly than many others. While…