Legislature finishes the year with special session
Legislature returns for special session in June.
Due in part to the roadblocks the Legislature faced during this session, lawmakers had to meet for a one- day special session in June to formalize a budget deal that was negotiated at the end of the regularly scheduled legislative session.
This was an incredibly tough budget year, and many public programs were cut. However, through the advocacy of our members and the efforts of our lobby team, we were able to successfully defend education funding for the next two years.
Below, we have provided a summary of education- related budget proposals that were addressed during the special session.
Education finance
The per-pupil formula remains linked to inflation. Thank you to everyone who sent emails and made phone calls to their elected officials and urged them to keep this link!
- Additional targeted funding for English language learners of $47 million in 2026 and $124 million in 2027.
- Increases in funding for special education of $375 million in 2026 and $445 million in 2027.
- Decreases in special education transportation reimbursement.
- Establishment of a Blue Ribbon Commission to look at special education costs.
- Decreases in aid to school libraries.
- Flexibility with calculation and usage of compensatory revenue.
READ Act policy and funding changes
Most of the changes to the READ Act included in the budget are designed to clean up and clarify existing language. Those include:
- Changes to reporting requirements for dual immersion education sites and allowing those students to undergo screenings in both English and their primary language.
- All paraprofessionals and community volunteers assisting with reading instruction must complete a free READ Act training offered through regional literacy networks. The training is online and asynchronous.
- Teachers that are new to Minnesota and that have entered the classroom through nontraditional pathways will need to certify that they have completed READ Act training at their first license renewal.
- For the 2025-26 school year, districts may decrease student contact time by 5.5 hours to allow for READ Act professional development.
- If an educator misses a required training because of medical leave that the district knows about, the district can’t hold the individual responsible for the cost of missed training.
If districts don’t sign an MOU by Aug. 1, they will be put into statutory default, which means that the READ Act stipend money will be divided by the total number of educators who need to take the training and then given directly to those eligible educators. This ensures that the stipend money gets into the hands of educators instead of being held hostage by the district.
Emergency short call subs
The budget bill includes a new temporary license for emergency short-call substitute teachers. This license is available for current paraprofessionals with one year of experience or applicants with an associate’s degree. Short-call subs can only be in an assignment for 10 days, and the district must provide training and regular substitute pay.
For a more in-depth explanation of these proposals, please check out the legislative update webinar on our website at educationminnesota.org/members-only/2025-legislative-wrap-up. If you have further questions, please contact our lobby team at lobbyteam@edmn.org.
