Miller wants local school boards to be given more power

As one of his first actions as a new member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, is authoring legislation that would give local school boards the authority to decide when school starts or how many days a week there will be.
Currently, the Minnesota Commissioner of Education decides what day the school year starts as well as whether or not a district can go to a four-day week.
Miller’s interest in the issue is homegrown. The combined school district of MACCRAY is made of the cities of Maynard, Clara City and Raymond, all three of which are in his District 17A. The district includes all of Swift and Chippewa counties, most of Renville County, and the four southwestern Kandiyohi County townships of Edwards, Holland, Roseland and Lake Lillian.
MACCRAY was the first district in Minnesota to implement the four-day school week when it went into effect for the 2008-2009 school year. At the time, the school district said it would save it $85,000 in energy and transportation costs. However, its experiment with the shorter school week may be coming to an end unless Miller’s proposed legislation is adopted.
In his state of the state address last week, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said he did not support the four-day school week, saying..."The era of shortchanging our students’ educations is over."
Photo: Representative Tim Miller, R-District 17A, Prinsburg, (center) was sworn into office along with other members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Jan. 6.  Photo provided by Miller’s office.