Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

Page Amendment backers renew push for constitutional fix to school equity gap

Minnesota's long and well-documented history of shortchanging students of color is at the heart of a brewing political battle over changing the state Constitution.

Advocates of the proposed Page Amendment - named for former Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, a longtime crusader for equitable public schools - want the Legislature to act this year to put it on the 2022 ballot. Supporters want Minnesota voters to approve amending the state Constitution to say that a quality education for all children is a civil right. The Constitution's current language, which dates to the beginning of statehood, requires an "adequate" and "uniform" system of education.

That means navigating the thorny education funding politics of the same Legislature that advocates believe has never done enough to change a system that has produced decades of lower standardized test scores and graduation rates for nonwhite students.

https://www.startribune.com/page-amendment-backers-renew-push-for-constitutional-fix-to-school-equity-gap/600017619/

 

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