Minnesotas Two Decades of Inadequate Progress in Public Education

Two Decades of Reports on Minnesota’s Achievement Gap

In the last 20 years, multiple reports have been issued warning that Minnesota has failed to make adequate progress in addressing the educational opportunity or achievement gap. This post itemizes  nine important  task force reports decrying Minnesota’s failure to make progress in closing its achievement gap.  Each report title is linked to an online report. 

Together, these reports establish that the Minnesota legislature and executive branch have jointly failed to make the necessary improvements in funding, accountability and best practices to provide a large proportion of Minnesota students with an adequate education that meets all state standards as required by Minnesota's constitution. 

Ø Investing in Our Future: Seeking a fair, understandable and accountable, twenty-first century education finance system for Minnesota (Acknowledging that “Minnesota has one of the largest achievement gaps in the nation )(Governor’s Task Force July 2004 P11)

Ø Funding Education for the Future, (MDE May 2011) (“There are wide gaps in reading and math proficiency by race and by economic status. Little progress was made in closing these achievement gaps between 2006 and 2010.” ) Education Finance Working Group Recommendations and Report p 5 (Nov 2012)

Ø 80-20-10 Bringing Equity to Minnesota’s School Finance System (School Finance Working Group, November 2020) (Over the past 20 years, educational outcomes measured by state accountability tests have stagnated with a large, persistent achievement gap while the percentage of children of color has more than doubled from 16% to 34% )

Ø Office of Legislative Auditor A Minnesota Department of Education’s Role in Addressing the Achievement Gap (2022) p 3 (“Minnesota has had long-standing academic achievement gaps, despite efforts by MDE, school districts, and charter schools to implement policies designed to close them.)

Ø Wilder Foundation “Tackling the achievement gap head-on” (2006) (A wide gulf divides public school classrooms throughout the Twin Cities region. It closely follows the lines of family income and of race and ethnicity. This achievement gap persists throughout the school years, from grade-school test scores through high school graduation rates.)

Ø  Minnesota’s Educational Achievement Gaps: A Statewide Crisis. (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 2019 (Minnesota’s education achievement gaps have persisted for decades despite implementing policies designed to close them.)  

Ø Educational Outcomes and Minnesota’s Economy, Minnesota Federal Reserve Bank of Mnneapolis, 2022 (“Data show that Minnesota’s public schools consistently underserve students from low-income families, Indigenous students, and students of color”.) 

Ø Providing all students with a world-class education Recommendations from the MDE Task Force on Financial Supports 2025 Minnesota is grossly under-funding school districts, especially those serving large enrollments of those student.   The report finds that those funding shortfalls are a major contributing cause to Minnesota's persistent achievement gap.  

Ø English Learner (EL) Task Force: Challenges and Recommendations Report to the Legislature, (2025)  As base funding has gone up for all students, the categorical funding stream for ELs has remained static. Even with the recent increase in EL state funding, there is still a large deficit, and the funding is inadequate for EL students to meet all state standards. Since the funding is based on the number of students, this gap is most problematic for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) with a higher density of English learners (20– 30% or more of English Learner population in their district). Caps on EL concentration revenue and compensatory revenue further compound this issue. This lack of funding tells EL students and families they don't matter."