Since transitioning from her former position as Gov. Mark Dayton’s chief of staff into that of Lt. Gov. of Minnesota, Tina Smith says one of the things she’s enjoyed most is being able to “get out of St. Paul and travel to so many different communities.” In fact, since taking office, Smith has visited more than 70 different communities around Minnesota, with Detroit Lakes being the most recent to get checked off the list. “This is such an incredible, diverse, rich state,” she adds. “It gives me so much optimism, getting to visit all these different communities and see how they work.” During her visit to Detroit Lakes, Smith spent some time visiting with the students and teachers in kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Roosevelt Elementary, then stopped to do a few media interviews before exploring the community’s downtown. She spent a little time at a gathering of Becker County Democrats in the early evening before heading back to her home in the Twin Cities. During her visit with the Roosevelt students Thursday afternoon, Smith answered such probing questions as “what’s your favorite color?” (red) and “what’s your favorite toy to play with?” (“my bicycle”). But when asked why she chose to spend part of her brief visit to Detroit Lakes talking to local kindergarteners, Smith’s answer was a bit more thoughtful. “Minnesota just finished its first full year of all day, every day kindergarten,” she said, but added that in Detroit Lakes, all day, every day kindergarten has been in place for more than a decade already. “Detroit Lakes was ahead of the curve,” she said. “The commitment this community made to all day, every day kindergarten is one of the reasons why these kids are doing as well as they are.” Smith pointed to the fact that both Roosevelt and Rossman elementary schools received 2014 School of Excellence honors from the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association as evidence of this ongoing success. By investing state dollars in funding free all day, every day kindergarten for public school districts across Minnesota, Gov. Dayton and the State Legislature have saved some families as much as $2,500 to $4,200 a year from not having to pay for access to those services, Smith noted.
“It’s great for the kids and it’s great for the parents,” she added. In 2014, 99.6 percent of kindergarten-age students in Minnesota attended school all day. The academic impact of implementing this program statewide is still being measured, but studies have shown that kindergarteners who attend school all day, every day make faster and more lasting gains in reading and literacy, and are better prepared for future learning because they know what the expectations are in the classroom. They also develop stronger social and emotional skills. Smith is solidly behind Dayton’s plans to expand access to pre-kindergarten learning for 4-year-olds across the state. At the start of the 2015 legislative session, Dayton proposed that the state invest $343 million in pre-kindergarten, which would have provided access to free preschool for over 47,300 young learners in Minnesota. Though the legislation didn’t pass, Smith said that implementation of this proposal remains a priority for the 2016 session, which convenes in March. Other priorities for the abbreviated session include finding a way to fund Minnesota’s diverse transportation needs and passage of a state bonding bill for public works projects. Smith would also like to see better access to broadband internet across the state. “That (broadband access) is such a huge issue, especially in greater Minnesota,” Smith said. “In Becker County, only 60 percent of households have access to high speed, affordable broadband.” Broadband access is essential, Smith said, whether it’s for business, agriculture, the arts, education or government - in other words, it’s important to just about everybody. “It’s like rural electrification for our age,” she said. “Broadband is not just nice to have, it’s something that’s really necessary for our economy.” As is good transportation and infrastructure, Smith added. “A bonding bill is so important to make the kind of investment we need in our state’s assets,” she said, adding that due to continuing low interest rates, “now is a really good time to borrow money, which is what bonding is.” As for transportation, she said, a lot of time was spent on discussions of this issue during the last session. “After lots of discussion, there was a consensus that emerged about the size of the need,” said Smith. An investment of about $6 billion to $8 billion is needed to bring the state’s roads and bridges up to where they should be, she added. “The question we have to answer now is how to pay for it,” said Smith, and while this issue is still divisive, “there is reason for (finding) common ground.” All in all, the timing is right to make a major investment in the state’s transportation infrastructure, she noted. “Our budget is in really good shape… now is the time to look at how to fix some of these long term challenges.” Tweets by @DLNewspapersSince transitioning from her former position as Gov. Mark Dayton’s chief of staff into that of Lt. Gov. of Minnesota, Tina Smith says one of the things she’s enjoyed most is being able to “get out of St. Paul and travel to so many different communities.”In fact, since taking office, Smith has visited more than 70 different communities around Minnesota, with Detroit Lakes being the most recent to get checked off the list.“This is such an incredible, diverse, rich state,” she adds. “It gives me so much optimism, getting to visit all these different communities and see how they work.”During her visit to Detroit Lakes, Smith spent some time visiting with the students and teachers in kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Roosevelt Elementary, then stopped to do a few media interviews before exploring the community’s downtown. She spent a little time at a gathering of Becker County Democrats in the early evening before heading back to her home in the Twin Cities.During her visit with the Roosevelt students Thursday afternoon, Smith answered such probing questions as “what’s your favorite color?” (red) and “what’s your favorite toy to play with?” (“my bicycle”).But when asked why she chose to spend part of her brief visit to Detroit Lakes talking to local kindergarteners, Smith’s answer was a bit more thoughtful.“Minnesota just finished its first full year of all day, every day kindergarten,” she said, but added that in Detroit Lakes, all day, every day kindergarten has been in place for more than a decade already.“Detroit Lakes was ahead of the curve,” she said. “The commitment this community made to all day, every day kindergarten is one of the reasons why these kids are doing as well as they are.”Smith pointed to the fact that both Roosevelt and Rossman elementary schools received 2014 School of Excellence honors from the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association as evidence of this ongoing success.By investing state dollars in funding free all day, every day kindergarten for public school districts across Minnesota, Gov. Dayton and the State Legislature have saved some families as much as $2,500 to $4,200 a year from not having to pay for access to those services, Smith noted.
“It’s great for the kids and it’s great for the parents,” she added.In 2014, 99.6 percent of kindergarten-age students in Minnesota attended school all day. The academic impact of implementing this program statewide is still being measured, but studies have shown that kindergarteners who attend school all day, every day make faster and more lasting gains in reading and literacy, and are better prepared for future learning because they know what the expectations are in the classroom. They also develop stronger social and emotional skills.Smith is solidly behind Dayton’s plans to expand access to pre-kindergarten learning for 4-year-olds across the state. At the start of the 2015 legislative session, Dayton proposed that the state invest $343 million in pre-kindergarten, which would have provided access to free preschool for over 47,300 young learners in Minnesota. Though the legislation didn’t pass, Smith said that implementation of this proposal remains a priority for the 2016 session, which convenes in March.Other priorities for the abbreviated session include finding a way to fund Minnesota’s diverse transportation needs and passage of a state bonding bill for public works projects. Smith would also like to see better access to broadband internet across the state.“That (broadband access) is such a huge issue, especially in greater Minnesota,” Smith said. “In Becker County, only 60 percent of households have access to high speed, affordable broadband.”Broadband access is essential, Smith said, whether it’s for business, agriculture, the arts, education or government - in other words, it’s important to just about everybody.“It’s like rural electrification for our age,” she said. “Broadband is not just nice to have, it’s something that’s really necessary for our economy.”As is good transportation and infrastructure, Smith added. “A bonding bill is so important to make the kind of investment we need in our state’s assets,” she said, adding that due to continuing low interest rates, “now is a really good time to borrow money, which is what bonding is.”As for transportation, she said, a lot of time was spent on discussions of this issue during the last session. “After lots of discussion, there was a consensus that emerged about the size of the need,” said Smith.An investment of about $6 billion to $8 billion is needed to bring the state’s roads and bridges up to where they should be, she added.“The question we have to answer now is how to pay for it,” said Smith, and while this issue is still divisive, “there is reason for (finding) common ground.”All in all, the timing is right to make a major investment in the state’s transportation infrastructure, she noted. “Our budget is in really good shape… now is the time to look at how to fix some of these long term challenges.”Tweets by @DLNewspapers
