Emmer talks K12
Republican Tom Emmer used his time at the U of M's Humphrey School to talk about his proposed changes to the state's K12 schools. Emmer said he wants to continue testing because he believes it's the best way to measure and improve student performance.
"What gets measured will get done," Emmer said.
Emmer also took aim at the Minnesota Miracle (where the state took over more spending of school spending) by saying it the shift wasn't solely focused on student performance. He criticized those who consider the Minnesota Miracle as the model for improving education.
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"I think it shows how badly skewed our thinking is on education. The Minnesota Miracle of 1971 was not about improving the way we educate our kids. It wasn't even about improving the performance of students. The Minnesota Miracle refers to changing how we pay for education. The first shjift to more state funding and away from property taxes. In my mind, that's a pretty minor miracle. How we pay for education is not nearly as important as what kind of education our kids get for those dollars."
Emmer also said he'd like to reduce the number of state requirements on school districts. He said he wants schools teaching a large number of disadvantaged students to be able to opt out of several state and local mandates like collective bargaining. He also wants to give other school districts the right to get waivers from certain mandates.
"There are all kinds of state mandates that school districts have to operate within and they don't have a choice. I'm suggesting we give them the opportunity to say 'if we get us out from under this mandate, it's going to allow us the freedom to make certain decisions which will let us put resources in place where we think they are going to be more effective than they are right now."
During the Q and A with the Humphrey School's Larry Jacobs, Emmer also discussed the budget, federal oversight and his decision to cut spending on higher education. When a student question asked "How would you assist students so they don't graduate from college with $50,000 in debt?", Emmer responded that he understood the frustration since he did the math with seven kids but ...
"I'm reminded that I paid my own way. I paid my own my way through college and did it myself. A lot of you are doing the same thing. It took me until my early thirties to pay off the loans that I did have to take for law school. Partly it's your responsibility. I will tell you that right up front. You need to take control of your destiny. You need to be responsible for it."
Emmer added that he would like to see students be guaranteed a fixed tuition from a university for the four years that the student goes to that school. He also added that he would like to see a better marketplace to find lower interest rates to pay school.
Here's Emmer's speech:
Here's the q and a with Jacobs: