Minnesota

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Minnesota
Teaching Video Teachers, Try This: A Pen Pal Exchange to Improve Student Writing and Build Empathy
This class experiences so many benefits through the monthly letters they exchange with their pen pals at the local retirement home.
4:00
Collage illustration of California state house and U.S. currency background.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
Education Funding States Are Pulling Back on K-12 Spending. How Hard Will Schools Get Hit?
Some states are trimming education investments as financial forecasts suggest boom times may be over.
Mark Lieberman, March 7, 2024
6 min read
Concept of counting down days. Hand is marking out dates on monthly calendar.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
School & District Management It's Not Just Snow Days: How Can Districts Work Extreme Weather Into Their Calendars?
Extreme weather that's becoming more frequent is challenging districts with novel choices about when it's safe to stay open.
Caitlynn Peetz, March 7, 2024
5 min read
Joe Gothard, superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools stands for a portrait at Como Park High School in St. Paul, Minn., on Aug. 21, 2021, where new federal school funding will help to hire staff, buy books and be used for building renovations.
Joe Gothard, superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools stands for a portrait at Como Park High School in St. Paul, Minn., on Aug. 21, 2021. Gothard was named the 2024 National Superintendent of the Year on Thursday by AASA, The School Superintendents' Association.
Andy Clayton-King/AP
School & District Management Superintendent of the Year Focuses on How to ‘Do More’ in Minnesota
The 2024 winner of the national honor didn't want to spend pandemic relief funds "in the way that we’ve always spent our money."
Caitlynn Peetz, February 15, 2024
2 min read
Jen Koop, a retired elementary special education teacher, sits with her two pen pals in spring 2023.
Jen Koop, a retired elementary special education teacher, sits with her two pen pals in spring 2023.
Courtesy photo
Teaching Profession 'Never Stop Learning’: Inside the Club for Retired Teachers
A club for retired teachers keeps lifelong educators connected to the young people in today's classrooms.
Madeline Will, February 13, 2024
6 min read
Illustration of a large dollar sign with small people running, jumping and climbing to get to end.
DigitalVision Vectors
School & District Management Superintendents Share the Lessons They've Learned From ESSER—and Look Ahead
The four finalists for the 2024 National Superintendent of the Year award reflected on the lessons they learned from pandemic relief aid.
Caitlynn Peetz, January 17, 2024
5 min read
Image of an award.
May Lim/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Meet the Finalists for 2024’s Superintendent of the Year
These four superintendents were recognized for their advocacy and for improving academics and community engagement.
Caitlynn Peetz, December 19, 2023
2 min read
Reading & Literacy Video Teachers, Try This: A Writing Exercise for Amazon’s Strangest Products
Students search for the strangest product they can find on Amazon, and practice writing reviews in this pre-winter break exercise.
Lauren Santucci, December 7, 2023
3:19
Students at the Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood eat lunch on Sept. 4, 2013.
Students at the Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood eat lunch on Sept. 4, 2013.
Steven Senne/AP
States Massachusetts Joins Short List of States Providing Free School Meals to All
States are stepping in where federal COVID-relief aid dropped off.
Caitlyn Meisner, August 16, 2023
4 min read
Students at Wayzata High School in Minnesota serve meals to their peers on June 6, 2023, as part of a program the school started that employs students to offset staffing shortages.
Students at Wayzata High School in Minnesota serve meals to their peers on June 6, 2023, as part of a program the school started that employs students to offset staffing shortages.
Courtesy of Tyler Shepard
Recruitment & Retention Q&A This High School Couldn't Fill Key Jobs, So It Turned to Students
Schools have struggled to fill key support staff jobs since reopening from pandemic shutdowns. This high school recruited its students.
Caitlynn Peetz, July 28, 2023
8 min read
York City School District police officer Britney Brooks walks one of her rounds on March 8, 2018, at William Penn Senior High School in York. Brooks began working as a school police officer in 2015. The York City School District is the only one in York County with its own police department. Officers, who have the power of arrest, operate on a community policing ideology to prevent incidents rather than react to them.
York City School District police officer Britney Brooks walks one of her rounds on March 8, 2018, at William Penn Senior High School in York. Brooks began working as a school police officer in 2015. Teachers who work in districts that have removed SROs told EdWeek they don't want to go back to having school police, but teachers in districts that still have them feel safer due to their presence.
Chris Dunn/York Daily Record via AP
School Climate & Safety What 3 Teachers Think About Eliminating School Resource Officers
Teachers have mixed feelings about school resource officers and whether their presence makes schools feel safer.
Eesha Pendharkar, July 7, 2023
6 min read
Teaching Video Teachers, Try This: Use Restorative Justice to Solve Student Conflicts
In this kindergarten classroom, students learn conflict resolution skills through a short restorative justice practice.
Kaylee Domzalski, July 5, 2023
3:11
Students eat lunch of homemade pizza and caesar salad at the Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, in Essex Junction, Vt., on June 9, 2022.
Students eat lunch at Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School in Essex Junction, Vt., on June 9, 2022.
Lisa Rathke/AP
States Six States Have Made School Meals Free to All Students. Will More Follow?
The new state laws provide universal school meals permanently, affecting 8 million students.
Arianna Prothero, June 23, 2023
5 min read
Special education teacher Savannah Tucker works with Bode Jasper at the Early Childhood Education Center in Tupelo, Miss., on May 14, 2019. As the special education population has grown, so has mainstreaming - bringing these students into regular classrooms for at least part of their school days.
Special education teacher Savannah Tucker works with Bode Jasper at the Early Childhood Education Center in Tupelo, Miss., on May 14, 2019. Special education costs are rising, particularly as student needs have grown more complex since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP
Budget & Finance Special Education Is Getting More Expensive, Forcing Schools to Make Cuts Elsewhere
States and districts share the disproportionate cost burden of supporting a complex, growing, and vulnerable population.
Mark Lieberman, April 20, 2023
8 min read