MREA membership on Tuesday adopted the 2017 legislative platform during its annual meeting. The platform is the result of input from our grassroots during the MREA’s meetings statewide with educators, administrators and school board members.

The platform is a reflection of the needs and values of the MREA membership that includes about 220 school districts in Greater Minnesota as well as the state’s Education Districts, service cooperatives, special education cooperatives and a variety of associate members.

The platform is a comprehensive list of issues and funding requests and strategies aimed at funding basic student needs, closing achievement gaps and creating property taxpayer fairness. View the platform.

MREA has identified key actions to take on these priority issues:

  • Facility Fallout: Ag2School
  • Early Learning
  • Quality Teachers
  • Career & College Readiness
  • Funding Students Needs
  • Student Opportunity Gaps
  • Broadband Access

MREA recognizes it’s highly unlikely that the state legislature will be able to address every aspect of our platform. The overall health of the state’s budget will provide a reality check on many of the platform items MREA adopted. The state will release the budget forecast on Dec. 2. The budget and policy priorities of the newly elected legislature are largely unknown.

The platform provides a guide for our grassroots and legislative team as we venture into unfamiliar legislative waters in the wake of the election.