Fast Facts:

Law passed: 1991 (first law in the country!)

Most recently amended: 2019

Number of charter schools: 180

Number of charter students: 68000

Cap on the number of schools allowed: No

Virtual charters allowed: Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS: Local and intermediate school boards, educational district cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, public universities, and private colleges can all authorize charter schools, though they must be approved by the state education commissioner. Active university authorizers are St. Catherine University, Bethel University, and University of St. Thomas. Together they authorize 17 schools.

GROWTH: With an increase of nearly 10,000 students since 2018, growth is steady but mainly comes from school expansions not a plethora of new schools.

OPERATIONS: Charter schools are exempt from most regulations that traditional public schools have, but the state has instituted many additional requirements by way of regulation.

EQUITY: Minnesota charter schools are funded inequitably, receiving approximately 30% less in total revenue than district schools. They do receive state support for leased facilities expenses because they cannot issue bonds or raise taxes like traditional public school districts. They also cannot use state funds to buy land or building. Minnesota law's funding formula provides dollars for transportation to charter schools and gives charter schools the option of providing transportation and keeping the transportation funds or requesting the traditional district to provide transportation and then paying those funds to that district in which the school is physically located.

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 1995 and 1997

Number of programs: 2

Statewide participation: N/A

Types of programs: Individual tax credit/deduction

Choice Laws & Analysis:

Individual Tax Credit/ Deduction
K-12 Education Subtraction
This individual tax deduction program was enacted in 1955, giving parents the opportunity to deduct educational expenses such as tuition, tutoring, textbooks and more. Students must attend school in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin to be eligible. There is no income limit for eligibility, and the program has no enrollment cap.

Individual Tax Credit/ Deduction
K–12 Education Credit
Minnesota's K–12 Education Credit program was enacted in 1997, and gives families tax credits for educational expenses like tutoring, after-school programs and textbooks. This program does not allow private school tuition to be an expense, and the individual credit cap is $1,000 per student.

USE OF STUDENT DATA IN EVALUATING TEACHER PREP

"Minnesota requires districts to provide effectiveness ratings of their teachers based on their summative evaluations. The state's evaluation system is based on student growth; however, these data are not publicly available."

This is just one indicator from The National Council on Teacher Quality, which collects and analyzes states on how well their policies and practices lead to well-prepared teachers. They collect data on state laws and regulations concerning the preparation of teachers, the policies that govern their oversight and the contracts that guide their employment. Learn more about your state here.