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Nominations for the next Education Minnesota Education Support Professional of the Year are opening soon!
Education Minnesota Aspiring Educators (EMAE) have been advocating for policies that will help reduce the teacher shortage by attracting more students into the education field. Since the number of students entering an education program has decreased steadily since 2017, attracting more students to these programs is essential for ensuring that all Minnesota students have access to high-quality educators.
Education Minnesota Aspiring Educators (EMAE) have been advocating for policies that will help reduce the teacher shortage by attracting more students into the education field. Since the number of students entering an education program has decreased steadily since 2017, attracting more students to these programs is essential for ensuring that all Minnesota students have access to high-quality educators.
According to the American Library Association, 2023 saw the greatest number of attempted book bans in public libraries and schools in the United States since the ALA began keeping records 20 years ago. The ALA documented 4,240 unique book titles that were either removed or restricted beyond the age intended by the publisher, a 92 percent increase over the previous year. The ALA also noted that 47 percent of books banned or challenged feature the voices of LGBTQ+ people and people of color.
State budgets are set in odd years, with even years being focused more on policy and small surplus investment. Before the legislative session ends on May 20, legislators will try to pass a modest budget, investing one-time money into education, pensions, health care, labor, transportation and more while also focusing on making needed policy-only changes in state law. Due to a “structural imbalance” in the state budget, legislative leaders settled on a modest budget to allow for stable state funding in future years.
After historic investments by the Legislature during the 2023 session, Education Minnesota advised local unions to build momentum as they headed into contract negotiations. Under the unifying campaign, “We’re Worth More,” we encouraged members to bargain boldly—and our ESP locals rose to the challenge.
Although Minnesota has made strides to increase educator pay—with successful union work driving much of these increases—teacher and ESP pay are still struggling to keep up with inflation and private sector salaries.
Minnesota currently ranks fifth in the nation for student loan debt, with an average debt load of $30,894 for state college students. While there are programs available for educators to receive debt relief, the ever-changing requirements have historically been difficult to navigate.
Fellow educator and First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, led a rally to formally launch the “Educators for Biden” campaign with Education Minnesota. Dr. Biden, along with Education Minnesota President Denise Specht, NEA President Becky Pringle and AFT President Randi Weingarten, spoke to members about the historic public education investments the Biden administration has made.
Besides Byrd, 10 other teachers were also finalists for the 2024 Minnesota Teacher of the Year award. We asked them to share some reasons why they teach, which we have shared below.
