Tag: SD48

It was a sad day for public education

The following column by Sen. Steve Cwodzinski was posted on the Eden Prairie News website April 19, 2017:

One of the saddest days of my teaching career was having to walk through the doors of Eden Prairie High School the day after the community defeated a referendum. The defeat told me that as a teacher, I wasn’t valued. That feeling permeated the classrooms of the school that week.

And, recently, that feeling has come back after seeing the lack of investments in the Senate education bill. While there were a lot of good items in the bill, such as language on suicide prevention and streamlining teacher licensure, I still chose to vote no.

Minnesota has historically valued public education — and the Legislature has put its money where its mouth is by making important investments that have helped our state achieve great things. Even our state constitution explicitly states that it is the duty of the Legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public education.

Continue reading “It was a sad day for public education”

Sen. Cwodzinski pens bill mandating high school civics courses

The following article by Sean Miner was posted on the Sun-Current website April 15, 2017:

Each Minnesota state legislator brings a unique set of experiences and proficiencies to St. Paul, and it’s not uncommon for a lawmaker to focus on what they know best.

In keeping with that, District 48 State Sen. Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-Eden Prairie) introduced a bill very much in his wheelhouse. The measure, which came before the Education Policy Committee and sent back for revisions, would mandate that all state public schools students take a certain number of credits in classes that teach civics.

Before embarking on his freshman term in the Senate, Cwodzinski taught primarily American government courses at Eden Prairie High School for more than three decades. He gleaned from that experience how valuable civics courses can be for high school students – particularly juniors and seniors. Continue reading “Sen. Cwodzinski pens bill mandating high school civics courses”