On May 24, Gov. Tim Walz signed what his administration and legislators are calling the One Minnesota Budget outside of the Minnesota State Capitol. That budget includes education funding passed by the Minnesota State Legislature just days earlier. The K-12 Omnibus Education Budget, which was included in that One Minnesota Budget, includes several provisions pertinent to MPS.
- A 10% ($2.3 billion) increase in the state’s K-12 education budget
- An increase to the state’s per-pupil formula of 4% in 2024 and 2% in 2025.
- The state’s E-12 education budget will now have an inflationary increase of 2-3% each year.
- A $662 million investment aimed at shrinking the special education cross-subsidy by half.
- School districts and charter schools must always have a supply of opiate antagonists, aimed at reversing an opioid overdose, that is easily accessible.
- School districts and charter schools must always provide students with access to menstrual products at no cost.
- A $64 million investment in hiring additional Education Support Professionals
- The bill includes $135 billion in funding for unemployment aid for education support professionals. Any money not used by June 30, 2027 would be released back to the States General Fund.
- A $60 million investment in the Increase Teachers of Color Act.
- A $12.5 million increase in funding for full-service community schools, with $7.5 million over the next two years and $5 million in the years after that.
- Passage of the READ Act, which aims to change how reading is taught in Minnesota schools and to improve literacy outcomes.
The state’s next two-year budget period begins July 1. The Minnesota State Legislature completed its 2023 legislative session on May 22 with just hours to spare before their midnight deadline. It is only the eighth time in the last 40 years that a special session has not been needed to finalize state budget details.
