Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

Despite a $1.65 billion surplus, Kathy Lohmer and the Republicans chose to underfund our E-12 schools and to cut pre-k. They allowed tuition to continue to rise by underfunding higher education. Instead, they gave big tax cuts to big tobacco and the wealthy. Luckily, Governor Dayton and Democratic leaders were able to force them to compromise. Minnesota children should not be used as a bargaining chip. In this district, the consequences of underfunding our schools has resulted in drastic measures, like closing schools and reducing staff and the community has suffered.

Shelly supports stable, predictable funding of public education at all levels. She believes that excessive standardized testing is hindering best practice pedagogy. She believes in addressing the whole child in schools by including counselors, nurses and psychologists as essential staff. Shelly and her husband, Scott, have decades of teaching experience and will always support the public school system as the foundation for a strong Minnesota.

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