Building an Equitable School System for All Students and Educators Table of contents EPIC Advisory Teams 1 The Educator Compensation and Work Environments Team 1 The Teacher Induction and Mentoring Team 1 The Infrastructure Team 2 The Pre-K Team 2 The Trauma-Informed, Restorative Schools Team 3 The Teacher Preparation Team 3 The Support Services Team 4 The Full-Service Community Schools Team 4 The Public Higher Education Team 5 The Special Education Team 5 Introduction: Building an Equitable School System for All Students and Educators 6 Education Funding Shortfalls in Minnesota 9 Equity and Minnesota’s Public Schools: Achievement Gaps, Discipline Gaps, and Legacies of White Supremacy 12 Minnesota’s Teacher Exodus 15 What We Must Do, Together 18 1. Educator compensation and work environments 18 2. Teacher mentoring and induction 18 3. School infrastructure 19 4. Preschool 19 5. Trauma-informed, restorative schools 19 6. Teacher preparation 20 7. Support professionals 20 8. Full-service community schools 20 9. Public higher education 21 10. Special education 21 References: Introduction 22 Educator Compensation and Work Environments 24 Cost of Living for Minnesota Educators 31 Oppositional Voices: Market-Based Positions on Educator Compensation 33 The Educator Wage Gap: National and Minnesota Specific Trends 36 The Professional Wage Gap Disproportionately Harms Female Educators 40 Education Support Professionals Do Not Earn a Living Wage 43 Inadequate Educator Benefits Further Contribute to the Professional Wage Gap 44 Student Loan Debt Further Strains Educators 45 Educators Lack the Basic Resources for Their Classrooms 51 Educators Work Multiple Jobs to Earn Equitable Wages 52 Educators are Struggling With Their Mental Health 53 Educators of Color Face Tremendous Institutional Stressors 55 Solutions 57 Solution #1: Protect Collective Bargaining Rights: Unions Help Curb Wage Disparities 57 Solution #2: Increase Teacher Pay and Improve Benefits 61 Solution #3: Offer Paid Family Leave for All Educators 62 Solution #4: Increase Efforts to Relieve Loan Debt 63 Solution #5: Challenge Systemic Racism With Critical Professional Development 63 Solution#6: Targeted Policy Interventions 63 Solution #7: Additional Financial Incentives for Educators 64 Concluding Thoughts 64 References: Educator Compensation and Work Environments 65 Teacher Induction and Mentoring: Fund Robust Teacher Induction and Mentorship Programs That Align With Best Practices 69 Minnesota Needs Robust Teacher Induction Systems 73 Provide the Resources so Educators can Build a School Culture Based on Collaboration 73 Provide Supports for Regularly Occurring Meeting Time for New Teachers 75 Recognize the Role of Administrators in Induction 76 Create and Support Affinity Groups for Teachers of Color, Even if This Means Crossing District Lines 77 Minnesota Needs Teacher Mentoring Systems Rooted in Best Practices 78 Develop Processes to Properly Match Mentors and Mentees 78 Provide Funding for Districts to Allow for Release Time for Mentors and Mentees 79 References: Teacher Induction and Mentoring 83 Infrastructure: The Physical State of Minnesota’s Schools 85 Reasons to Act on Infrastructure 88 The State of Public School Buildings and Areas of Concern 92 National Trends in School Infrastructure Funding 94 Equity Concerns Tied to School Infrastructure 96 Students of color and school infrastructure 96 Transgender and gender nonconforming students and school infrastructure 98 Minnesota’s Infrastructure Funding Shortfalls 99 Potential Solutions for Minnesota Policymakers 100 Solution #1: Reinstate and Fund the General Education Levy 100 Solution #2: Instruct All Schools to Adopt Policies in Line with “The Nine Foundations for a Healthy Building” 102 Solution #3: Require all New Minnesota School Facilities to Use Green Construction Practices 103 Solution #4: Direct LEAs to Conduct Regular Energy Audits of all School Facilities 103 Solution #5: Provide Financial Assistance to Districts Wishing to Exceed Green Building Standards 104 Solution #6: Require LEAs to Recycle, Compost, Eliminate Toxins from Schools, and Develop Plans to Reduce Consumption 104 Solution #7: Call for LEAs to Conduct Better Maintenance of Current Buildings 105 Solution #8: Join a Federal Coalition Asking the Federal Government to Collect Better Infrastructure Data within the U.S. Department of Education 105 Solution #9: Give LEAs the Funding Needed to Respond to Climate Change 106 Solution #10: Stop Building Schools that Look like Prisons 106 Solution #11: Retrofit all Minnesota Schools with Air Conditioning 106 Solution #12: Ensure all School Playgrounds are Safe and Accessible for All Students 107 Solution #13: Require LEAs to Monitor and Improve Air Quality in All Buildings 107 Solution #14: Provide the Resources LEAs Need to Build Inclusive Schools 107 References: Infrastructure 108 The Need for Universal Preschool 11 0 Why is Preschool Important for Children? 111 A National Review of Preschool Offerings 114 Minnesota’s Path to Universal Prekindergarten 11 7 The Importance of Quality for All Preschool Students 119 Quality Benchmarks are Important for Preschool Students 122 The Importance of Licensed Early Childhood Teachers 122 A Universal Prekindergarten Program Must be Run as a Public School Offering 123 All Educators Must Use Curriculum That is Age-Appropriate and Aligned with the Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress 124 Prekindergarten Class Sizes Must be Capped at 20 with Student-to-Staff Ratios Capped at 10:1 125 Quality, Universal Prekindergarten Must Include Family Outreach Services and Vision, Hearing, and Health Screening and Referral 125 Quality, Universal Prekindergarten Must Include Administrators and Education Support Professionals Trained in Age-Appropriate, Play-Based Education for Early Learners 125 Conclusion 126 References: The Need for Universal Preschool 126 Interrupting Racism, Strengthening Communities, and Accelerating Student Learning: The Need for Restorative Practices and Trauma-Informed Schools in Minnesota 128 Equity, Student Rights, and Discipline Gaps: School Safety and School Climate in the United States and Minnesota 131 Gratitude to the Indigenous Peoples of North America, and Especially Those of Minnesota 135 Important Terms Associated with School Climate and Behavioral Interventions 136 1. Exclusionary Practices 136 2. School-to-Prison Pipeline/Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline 136 3. Trauma-Informed Practices (TIP) 137 4. Restorative Practices (RP)/Restorative Justice (RJ)/Restorative School (RS) 138 5. Implicit Bias 14 0 6. Disproportionality 14 2 Defining the Discipline Gap: A Look at National and Statewide Statistics 14 3 The Racial Discipline Gap: By the Numbers 14 5 General Findings 14 5 Findings Regarding Black Male Students 14 9 Findings Regarding Black Female Students 14 9 Findings Regarding Latinx and Black Students 150 Findings About Sex and Disproportionality 150 Findings Regarding Preschool Students 151 Findings Regarding Students with Disabilities 152 Findings Regarding LGBTQ+ Students 152 School Discipline Gaps in Minnesota 15 4 Adverse Child Experiences (ACEs) and School Climate 157 The Process of Successfully Shifting to Trauma-Informed, Restorative Schools 15 9 Resources 163 Proposed Solutions 163 Solution #1: Minnesota lawmakers should provide funding for all adults working with students to learn trauma-informed skills and restorative practices. Districts should also receive money to transition all schools to a restorative model. 163 Solution #2: Train all educators, especially Tier 1 and Tier 2 teachers, in restorative practices and trauma-informed skills. 16 4 Solution #3: Train all school resource officers (SROs) and school liaison officers (SLOs) in restorative, trauma-informed interventions. 16 4 Solution #4: Provide funding for research-based strategies that reduce exclusionary practices and help build better school climates. 16 5 Solution #5: Minnesota lawmakers should mandate that no child from birth to grade 3 can receive a suspension or expulsion. 16 5 Concluding Thoughts 16 6 References: Trauma-Informed, Restorative Schools 167 Teacher Preparation 172 Teacher Preparation and Student Academic Achievement 176 Mandatory Components for All Teacher Preparation Routes 17 7 Component #1: All Teaching Candidates Need Training in Content Knowledge and Content-Specific Methodology. 17 7 Component #2: Training in Childhood Development, Including Social Emotional Learning and Trauma-Informed Practices. 178 Component #3 Training on Structural Racism, Cultural Responsiveness, and Critical Thinking in Regard to the Myriad Ways in Which Our Schools Normalize and Value Whiteness. 178 Component #4: Training in Classroom Management, Student Behavior, and Restorative Practices. 17 9 Component #5: Training in Robust and Multi-Faceted Assessment. 180 Component #6: Training on Teaching Diverse Students. 180 Component #7: Training on The Legal and Pedagogical Connections Between Special Education and General Education, Including Training on Why Students of Color are Over-Identified as Needing Special Education Services. 182 Component #8: Clinical Experience Tied to Theory and Built on Collaboration. 184 Proposed Solutions 185 References: Teacher Preparation 186 Equitably Meeting the Needs of the Whole Child: Minnesota’s Critical Need for Related Service Providers and Specialized Instructional Support Personnel 189 Roles and Responsibilities of RSPs and SISPs 19 0 Education Support Professionals Working as Related Service Providers 193 The Critical