Legislature passes vital step toward educator health insurance reform on final working day of the 2026 session
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ST. PAUL, Minnesota. May 18, 2026 – The Minnesota Legislature passed several meaningful bills to improve public education in Minnesota this session, including on the last working day voting to fund the first comprehensive study of the spiraling health insurance costs of Minnesota school districts.
“Hundreds of Minnesota educators came to the Capitol this year demanding relief from soaring health insurance costs that have erased pay raises, forced educators to skip necessary treatment for themselves and their families, and even driven some out of the profession entirely,” said Monica Byron, president of Education Minnesota. “A bipartisan group of legislators listened and voted to move the state closer to a solution that would benefit every school district and community by expanding high-quality, affordable coverage to more families.”
Currently, more than 500 school districts and charter schools negotiate their own insurance coverage with health insurers, resulting in small, volatile insurance pools. Education Minnesota supports creating a single, statewide insurance pool of school employees, which would be large enough to absorb expensive claims and have more bargaining power against the insurance companies. Legislators approved a state study that will inform the creation of that pool, called the Educator Group Insurance Program, or EGIP.
Byron said the union went into the 2026 session, which ended Monday, knowing it would be difficult to pass all the improvements needed to reduce the statewide shortage of educators, including improvements to pay, pensions and health care. The two-year state budget was already set, the House was tied between the two parties and there was only a one-vote majority of pro-education legislators in the Senate.
“Our educators thank Gov. Tim Walz and all the champions of public education in the Legislature this year because we know it was a difficult session to make progress,” Byron said. “You met face-to-face with hundreds of educators, read thousands of emails and, in many cases, helped us share the stories of what’s really happening in public schools – from early childhood to college – with the public. We will remember your work, and we hope to build on it next year.”
Legislators also approved spending another $10 million on compensatory aid, which supports schools with students from low-income families. Many families who legally qualified for aid were afraid to apply this year due to the tactics of federal immigration agents. This money will be vital as Minnesota schools brace for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts from the state and federal governments in the next two years.
The Minnesota Senate passed a bill that would have limited immigration enforcement in schools and other sensitive areas, but it died in the House. The bill was supported by Education Minnesota and would have directed school employees to refuse to allow immigration agents on school grounds unless the agents had a judicial warrant.
“Every educator who saw the cruel, violent and unprofessional tactics of ICE agents during Operation Metro Surge wanted the state to step in and protect Minnesota’s students and schools,” Byron said. “It’s extremely disappointing that the Republican leadership in the House blocked the bill. Without it, Minnesota schools are at the mercy of the White House, just as they were in January.”
In other action:
- Walz and pro-education legislators resisted another push to use taxpayer dollars for exclusionary private and religious schools. The governor refused to join President Donald Trump’s new national school voucher program, which would reduce the amount of money available for public schools that serve every student.
- The Legislature decided to send a constitutional amendment to the voters in November that would increase revenue for public schools. If passed, it would increase the annual draw from the Permanent School Fund, an account funded by timber sales and mining royalties that dates to the state’s founding.
- The Legislature passed a bipartisan bill that would allow property tax revenue from seasonal and recreational properties to remain in the region rather than go to the statewide general fund. For cabin-country school districts with lots of seasonal or recreational properties, the bill would help lower the property tax burden for homeowners on voter-approved operating levies.
- Legislators appropriated funding for behavioral school-linked mental health grants ($12.25 million), a system for reporting threats to schools anonymously ($5 million) and mobile response units for school violence ($3.8 million).
- Legislators also appropriated $3.4 million to improve pension benefits for current and retired St. Paul Public Schools teachers. This follows a $40 million appropriation last year for the Teachers Retirement Association, which provides pensions to most licensed teachers in the state.
About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.
