蜜桃影视

Two prominent Minnesotans have sent shock waves through the education community with a proposal to amend the state Constitution with what they say would be the strongest state public education clause in the nation. If adopted, the amendment would recognize a universal 鈥渇undamental right to a quality public education.鈥�

鈥淲e think it can be transformational because the current Constitution focuses on an education system that is adequate,鈥� said former Minnesota Supreme Court justice Alan Page, one of the proposed amendment鈥檚 authors. 鈥淚t focuses on the system and inputs. Our proposal focuses on children and outcomes.鈥�

The Minnesota Constitution鈥檚 existing education clause dates to 1857, added co-author Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank.

鈥淲e think that this can break through the political logjams that have been barriers to transformational reforms by literally putting children first,鈥� said Kashkari. 鈥淲hen other states have amended their Constitutions, the first thing that has typically happened is big legislative changes have followed.鈥�

The move follows last fall鈥檚 release of confirming that Minnesota has worst-in-the-nation gaps between academic results for affluent white children and for low-income whites, children of color and Native American children. have persisted for decades, the economists noted, and are found in all types of public schools.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank

The amendment proposal has high-profile support from a diverse and bipartisan array of civic leaders, education advocates and heads of communities of color and several of the state鈥檚 Native nations. Kashkari is a Republican and practicing Hindu. Page is an African American with a history of supporting Democratic candidates and causes.

The proposal drew swift and vociferous opposition from the state鈥檚 teachers union, Education Minnesota, whose president warned on social media that the amendment would eliminate the state鈥檚 obligation to fund schools and open the door to private school vouchers.

鈥淩emoving the state鈥檚 requirement of paying for a uniform public education has been a goal of pro-voucher groups for years and the agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC),鈥� Denise Specht tweeted. 鈥淢N has rejected ALEC because it favors polluters, union-busters and corporate welfare.鈥�

鈥淭his amendment is a distraction. The legislature should just do its job 鈥� fully fund our schools.鈥�

Asked whether there was further comment, an Education Minnesota spokesman pointed to issued in response to the proposal.

At a press conference announcing the proposal, Kashkari and Page rejected that interpretation. If anything, they said, replacing the Constitution鈥檚 requirement that lawmakers provide an adequate system of schools with one mandating access to a 鈥渜uality鈥� education would force state officials to make K-12 schools a higher priority.

Consistently one of the state鈥檚 biggest political donors, the union wields considerable clout with Democratic lawmakers, whose buy-in will be necessary for the proposal to advance at the statehouse. Majorities in both the state House of Representatives and Senate would need to vote to put the proposed amendment on the ballot.

The Constitution currently calls for a 鈥淯niform System of Public Schools.鈥� 鈥淭he stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools,鈥� it reads. 鈥淭he legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.鈥�

The new amendment is titled 鈥淓qual Right to Quality Public Education鈥�: 鈥淎ll children have a fundamental right to a quality public education that fully prepares them with the skills necessary for participation in the economy, our democracy, and society, as measured against uniform achievement standards set forth by the state,鈥� it reads. 鈥淚t is the paramount duty of the state to ensure quality public schools that fulfill this fundamental right.鈥�

The existing clause has been broadly interpreted by officials and courts as requiring lawmakers to provide the state鈥檚 students with an adequate education. Lawyers and judges in numerous lawsuits have struggled with the definition of adequacy. The language has sometimes been used to bolster arguments by state attorneys that they are obligated to provide only basic support to schools.

One of those backing the proposal is Democratic state Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is currently defending two prominent adequacy lawsuits in Minnesota courts. One asserts that school segregation is inherently inadequate, the other that the state has of historically underserved students.

Kashkari and Page are an interesting duo. Page first rose to prominence as a defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, attending law school while playing football. One of a group of players dubbed the Purple People Eaters, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

He used the platform that ceremony gave him, he reminded reporters this week, to decry outcomes for children of color: 鈥淥ne of the things I highlighted was that we were all too willing to let these gaps not just exist, but persist.鈥�

He was the first African American to serve on the state鈥檚 Supreme Court, an experience that he said convinced him that education disparities were at the root of many of the issues courts are left to confront. In 1993, he authored a dissenting opinion in Skeen v. State, in which the court held that the adequacy clause did not require equal state spending on schools.

Two years ago, students at a Minneapolis middle school named for former governor Alexander Ramsey 鈥� who, in the mid-1800s, was responsible for forcing Dakota and Ojibwe people from their lands 鈥� got permission to rename their school Justice Page Middle School.

Page is a proponent of reducing standardized testing. There are multiple ways of measuring educational quality, he said in response to questions about how the state could prove it is satisfying the proposed amendment鈥檚 requirement that it ensure that schools meet standards.

Kashkari, appointed president of Minneapolis鈥檚 Federal Reserve in 2015, inherited a staff of economists with a long history of conducting education research that has been used, among other things, to justify greater investments of public dollars in early childhood education.

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 蜜桃影视鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.