2024 Legislative Priorities
Strategic Partnerships - Providing SolutionsThe nine regional service cooperatives independently, and jointly through the MSC, can reach all of Minnesota. With nearly 50 years of working with educational institutions, local governments, and many other organizations, they understand the regional nuances and needs across the diverse corners of Minnesota. These regional board-governed agencies fulfill their statutory charge each day by developing innovative collaborations that support local government and education in service to the state’s residents and students. The service cooperatives stand ready to support the Governor and Legislature with the implementation of initiatives bridging gaps in education, workforce, and public health across Minnesota’s geographic regions.
During the 2024 legislative session, the service cooperatives are prepared to advance partnerships with school districts and the Minnesota Department of Education through:
- Additional funding for the READ Act, including expanding literacy incentive aid to cooperative and intermediate programs;
- Expanding allowable uses of student support personnel aid to cover literacy supports and behavioral intervention supports, and paid internships for new staff;
- Statewide career and technical education consortia programming;
- Increased facility funding for cooperative facilities;
- Safe schools and innovative mental health programming; and
- Expanding teacher development initiatives and establishing aspiring school leadership academies.
The service cooperatives can move quickly to help the state with other statewide and regional initiatives through:
- Facilitating regional partnerships to solve workforce needs;
- Alternative pathways to educator licensure, border state licensure flexibility and additional pathways for short-call substitute teachers;
- Offering public employees cost-effective health insurance solutions;
- Support for rural broadband access and closing the digital divide; and
- Assisting in coordination of statewide efforts in response to public health or other emergencies.