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ST. PAUL, Minn. Sept. 1, 2015 – Education Minnesota President Denise Specht released the following statement in response to the new state accountability report.

“We received more good news about Minnesota education today,” Specht. “Our schools were recently credited in CNBC’s decision to rank Minnesota as its best state for business. Last week, our students were called tops in the nation on the ACT. Now we’re seeing real progress on closing gaps in test scores and graduation rates.”

“However, we would be more excited about these results if we had faith in the underlying testing data from the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments,” Specht said. “We really don’t know if the school-level data are valid because of the multiple failures with the testing system last spring. If Minnesota is going to make policy based on MCA scores, our state needs to make sure the results are trustworthy.”

About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota represents 70,000 professionals working together for excellence in education for all 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.