HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 03-23 Ed Committee priority: Kent's student-to-counselor ratio bill | Woodbury Bulletin 3/23/2016 Ed Committee priority:Kent's student-to-counselor ratio bill I Woodbury Bulletin
Ed Committee priority: Kent's student-to-
counselor ratio bill
By Woodbury IBunulllletiiin Staff on Mar 22,2016 at 12:55 p.m.
f 8 V 0 %
Ending the state's teacher shortage crisis, addressing Minnesota's 46th student-to-counselor
ratio ranking and expanding pre-K for Minnesota's 4-year-olds are among the Senate
Education Committee's top priorities for the 2016 legislative session. State Sen. Susan Kent,
DFL-Woodbury,joined fellow DFLers Senate Education Chairman Sen. Chuck Wiger of
Maplewood, Sen. Kevin Dahle of Northfield, Sen. Vicki Jensen of Owatonna, and Sen. Katie
Sieben of Cottage Grove Monday to discuss their committee priorities in an Expanding
Education Opportunities press conference.
Kent has worked tirelessly to get more student counselors into Minnesota schools.
This year she's back with a $20 million grant proposal.
"Whether you come from a family with a strong support system, or no support system at all
— every school student can benefit in some way from a school counselor or support staff,"
Kent said in a press release. "School nurses, psychologists, social workers, chemical
dependency counselors and others all work to help our students stay healthy and succeed in
the classroom and beyond. I am hopeful this is the year we can get something done to
improve our state's abysmal student-to-counselor ratio."
Sieben is chief authoring a bill to bring pre-K to more of Minnesota's 4-year-old children.
http://www.woodburybul I eti n.com/news/politics/3992443-ed-committee-priority-kents-student-counsel or-ratio-bi I1 1/3
3/23/2016 Ed Committee priority:Kent's student-to-counselor ratio bill I Woodbury Bulletin
The mother of three said that she's seen the benefits of high quality preschool in the school
districts across her district.
"All children, regardless of income, should be able to attend a high quality preschool
program," Sieben said. "We don't say that children can only attend third or fifth grade if they
can afford to pay for it, and families shouldn't have to make that difficult decision for their 4-
year-olds. School-based preschool programs can provide wraparound services, like special
education, vision screening and busing that makes public preschool programs attractive to
families. Minnesota needs to move in this direction, and I'm proud to support such efforts."
Wiger said the committee is prioritizing getting more high-quality teachers into the
classroom.
"However, not only do we want to get them to go into the teaching profession, we want to
offer our ongoing support by investing in teacher training and development.
Dahle, an experienced classroom teacher, is authoring a package of bills that help address
teacher shortage by offering loan forgiveness, grants to help pay for student teaching and
incentives for teacher in high demand areas, as well as a bill to invest in teacher training and
development which would help districts pay for training sessions for their teachers.
Jensen is authoring a bill to add money to the agriculture education grant program.
"Agriculture is the state's second largest employer and vital to Minnesota's economy," Jensen
said. "It creates high-paying jobs that include not only the traditional roles on the farm, but
also opportunities in biochemistry, communications and engineering fields. Extending high
http://www.woodburybul I eti n.com/news/politics/3992443-ed-committee-priority-kents-student-counsel or-ratio-bi I1 2/3
3/23/2016 Ed Committee priority:Kent's student-to-counselor ratio bill I Woodbury Bulletin
school agriculture programming into the summer, provides the ultimate STEM experience in
a hands on setting, preparing students for a career in agriculture."
http://www.woodburybul I eti n.com/news/politics/3992443-ed-committee-priority-kents-student-counsel or-ratio-bi I1 3/3