Making Education Shifty, Fast Trains, and More Wind
July 9th, 2009 at 10:54 am By Chris Shields
Here’s what’s making news in Minnesota today:
Minnesota Independent: For T-Paw, ‘Shifting Education’ not best name for out-of-state conference
The state is playing with fire by having no plan to pay schools back.
“Gov. Tim Pawlenty is heading out of state again, this time to a conference in Nashville, Tenn., titled “Shifting Education and the Economy into High Gear.” Those first two words of the title might not be the ones he’d choose, just as he takes heat for shifting education funding — nearly $1.8 billion in state aid for K-12 schools — until next fiscal year. Or maybe until never, Democrats warn.”
PIM: By the numbers: The schools shift as a schools cut
“Simply put, there are no provisions in law to ensure the repayment of the $1.7 billion in K-12 education cost shifts that Pawlenty is seeking to enact.”
KBJR: Experts Say Duluth Depot is Viable for High-Speed Rail
“On Wednesday, stakeholders and community members converged at the Duluth Depot to learn how the facility could accommodate the Northern Lights Express.”
AP: Minn. Tribe To Dedicate Wind Turbine Plant (via WCCO)
“Through its investment in Mariah Power, the Mille Lacs Band will be the exclusive distributor for any Indian reservation buying a Windspire turbine, which costs about $6,500.”
MPR: St. Paul applying for $46M in federal stimulus for homes
“The request for funding comes as over 1,900 buildings sit vacant in St. Paul. The number is slightly lower than 2008, but marks a 160 percent increase from 2005 figures. Vacant and abandoned buildings cost the city about $3.8 million last year.”
Star Tribune: Community colleges boom during the bust
It doesn’t make sense for the state to be cutting college funding just when the need is growing.
“While it looks like Normandale — and community colleges across the country — have been blessed with success by the economic downturn, it can be more of a curse. As demand soars for their lower-cost, practical programs, state funds to help them provide those programs have been cut significantly. A bad economy brings community colleges more students and yet less money with which to educate them.”
AP: Visits to Minnesota Food Shelves on the Rise (via KAAL)
LikeTags: Economic Recovery, Education Shifts, Food Shelves, High-Speed Rail, Higher Ed, Higher Education, Wind Power
