MN House passes Education Budget Bil

ST. PAUL, MN (GRAY) -- Thursday the Minnesota House of Representatives passed their version of the K-12 Education Bill with a vote of 70-60.

“We make an absolutely historic investment in education,” said Education Chair Cheryl Youakim.

The bill drew an extensive floor debate as Republicans pushed back on issues like curriculum. It includes significant investments in inflation-consistent school funding, new curriculum for things like ethnic studies, and mental health programs for students around Minnesota.

“We can finally invest in students’ mental health because students can’t learn when they’re struggling with these kinds of emotional issues, some of which are a hangover from COVID,” said Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman (DFL - Brooklyn Park)

The budget also contains language to align funding with the inflation index.

“Instead of these districts having to come up every single year, to beg for just a little bit more to do the job that they’re already doing, we give them stable funding moving forward so that they can plan for the future,” said Youakim.

That index is capped at 3% annually. DFL lawmakers feel it’ll help districts allocate more money to school resources.

“That’s the money we need to make sure that our kids are educated and we have the future workforce Minnesota deserves,” Youakim said.

The bill still needs to go before the Minnesota Senate to make it to the Governor’s Desk.