Education News

MPR News keeps track of the latest education news in Minnesota so you can understand the events shaping the future of learning and how it impacts students at any level.

Stay informed about local education events, policies and more happening in schools and colleges across Minnesota.

Nikole Hannah-Jones chooses Howard over UNC-Chapel Hill
Investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones says she will not teach at the journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill following an extended fight over tenure there, and instead will take a tenured position at Howard University.
Long, strange trip: Legislature passes new budget
Hours before a deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown, the Minnesota Legislature passed the final elements of a $52 billion two-year state budget. It capped a year of remote meetings and special sessions related to the COVID-19 pandemic that pushed the limits of divided state government. 
How critical race theory became the latest battle in the culture war
Critical race theory has been around for about 50 years. But inflamed by conservative media, it’s become the latest flashpoint in the culture wars. Several states have already banned it from being taught in K-12 schools. What are the implications?
U.S. to review dark history of Indigenous boarding schools
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is launching an inquiry into her agency's past oversight of the federal government's boarding school program for Indigenous children. 
This school district erased all holiday names after dropping Columbus Day
Some institutions have dropped the name Columbus Day or switched to celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day. One New Jersey school district came up with a new solution: eliminate all holiday names.
StoryCorps: How role models like Rosa Parks shaped a distracted kid into a leader
At StoryCorps in 2010, the Rev. Farrell Duncombe remembered those who shaped him — like Rosa Parks, his former Sunday school teacher. "These are the people that nurtured me. These are the people who saw me when I was still Little Farrell and now I'm their pastor," he said. Duncombe died last week at age 78.
Spring numbers show 'dramatic' drop in college enrollment
Undergraduate college enrollment fell again this spring, down nearly 5 percent from a year ago. "It's really the end of a truly frightening year for higher education," one researcher says.
High school graduation rates remain steady; gaps persist
Minnesota's high school graduation rate held steady for the Class of 2020, despite an abrupt shift toward the end of its senior year as the early stage of the pandemic shuttered school buildings across the state. But schools haven’t managed to shake their nearly worst-in-the-nation education inequalities.
‘Uno tiene que soñar en grande': La ayuda de mentores, la familia, la pasión y la perseverancia (el “grit”) iluminan el futuro de un adolescente
Edgar Omar Dominguez Casalez está a punto de convertirse en el primero de su familia en ir a la universidad. Su historia, que incluye un mentor, un caballo y la pandemia, dice mucho sobre las cosas buenas que pueden suceder cuando jóvenes decididos en circunstancias difíciles, conectan con adultos que pueden ayudar a guiar sus sueños.