At a press conference at the State Capitol, Growth & Justice outlined a comprehensive long-term blueprint for Minnesota:  A Smart Investment Agenda for Minnesota’s Next Decade.  The document offers a broadly shared vision for Minnesota, measurable goals for progress, and examples of specific strategies for achieving those goals.  Intended for voters, policymakers, and candidates for public office, the Smart Investment Agenda provides a common-sense framework and suggests ways to talk about the need for smart and ample public investments, government accountability and redesign, and tax fairness.

Check out the St. Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report article Show us the vision – please, by Growth & Justice president Dane Smith, which issues a call to gubernatorial candidates to look beyond the current budget crisis and paint a long-term vision for our state. The article also highlights the visions and goals set forth by our Smart Investment Agenda.

Growth & Justice hosts a gubernatorial candidate forum on education strategies for Minnesota

More than 175 people came to the Open Book in Minneapolis to hear candidates for governor talk about their strategies for improving and investing in education in Minnesota.  The event was moderated by St. Paul Pioneer Press education reporter Megan Boldt and co-hosted by Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Minnesota Rural Education Association, Parents United for Public Schools, and Ready 4 K. 

If you missed this engaging and informative forum, click here to listen or watch it at www.theuptake.org.

New research and policy ideas for education in Minnesota 

Minnesota must increase investments in education and boost the share of young people completing post-high school degrees and training in order to spur economic growth, strengthen the state’s businesses and improve the economic outlook for individuals, according to a new series of issue briefs on education from the early childhood years through to post-secondary study.

In the new issue briefs, Growth & Justice highlights the importance of improved schooling and better access to higher education, especially for Minnesotans of color and low-income students. The briefs present new research and spell out specific public policy recommendations.