Author: Sarah Cooke

St. Francis Area Schools has agreed to return dozens of banned books to its libraries and classrooms to settle a lawsuit filed by Education Minnesota-St. Francis on behalf of eight students. 

The Minnesota Legislature has passed a historic improvement to pension benefits for most Minnesota teachers, including creating a career rule that rewards teachers’ decades of service to Minnesota students. 

Hundreds of members of Education Minnesota will rally Saturday in the Capitol Rotunda to call on Gov. Tim Walz and state legislators to fund the union’s priorities, including pension reform, in the next state budget. 

Linda Wallenberg, an English teacher at Eden Prairie High School, is the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. 

Richfield teacher Monica Byron will be the next president of Education Minnesota following an election Saturday at the union’s annual convention.

The latest threat to federal funding for Minnesota’s public schools shows the biases of President Trump’s administration, but isn’t binding on Minnesota school districts, Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, said Friday. 

The Minnesota Senate released the first details of its plan for the state budget on Friday, and while it delivers on promised increases to E-12 education, it doesn’t provide enough money for improving teacher pensions.

Education Minnesota-St. Francis filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the St. Francis Area Schools unlawfully bans books in libraries and classrooms based on the ideas, characters and stories they contain. 

Education Minnesota continues its advocacy for educators and students through a series of new advertisements featuring members of the union that will air on digital platforms starting Monday, March 24, and on broadcast and cable television starting March 31.