Support the Timberjay by making a donation.

Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Education the focus in Ely

Gov. Tim Walz toured Ely schools, made pitch for more childcare funding

Catie Clark
Posted 4/12/23

REGIONAL— Gov. Tim Walz used the occasion of his birthday last Thursday for a quick tour of the Vermilion Range, with stops in both Ely and Tower. The governor flew into the Ely airport with …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Education the focus in Ely

Gov. Tim Walz toured Ely schools, made pitch for more childcare funding

Posted

REGIONAL— Gov. Tim Walz used the occasion of his birthday last Thursday for a quick tour of the Vermilion Range, with stops in both Ely and Tower.
The governor flew into the Ely airport with snow still falling, but the weather didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for talking about two of his favorite subjects— education and childcare.
Gov. Walz, a former teacher, held a press conference at the Ely public school campus that focused largely on the importance of childcare, both to educating young people and expanding the state’s workforce.
“We’ve made it very clear,” Walz explained, “that we want this to be the best state in the country for a child to grow up in and for a family to be able to raise their children here… That means there needs to be good quality, well-funded public schools, but also access to childcare in those early years. We know those first 1,000 days shape that child for the rest of their lives.”
While his message was focused on his political agenda, Walz was otherwise in casual mode, dressed in blue jeans, a blazer and no tie.
Consistent with his “One Minnesota” budget theme, Walz outlined why he believes state level funding should play a significant role in equalizing both child care opportunities and quality education throughout the state. “If you base the quality of your schools solely on what the property tax base is,” Walz said, “(then) we’ve got schools that have two indoor pools, are brand new, have climbing walls, and are fully fitted. We have other schools that are trying to fix leaky roofs and replacing windows.”
Walz laid out why state funding for schools was crucial to creating educational equity in the state: “When more of the funding for education comes from the state level, property taxes go down on local communities, education quality goes up across the state, and we’re not spending any more money. We’re just doing it in a much more equitable way to make sure everybody benefits.”
Walz then used state-wide education funding as an analogy for child care funding, “If we just leave each community on their own, it creates a real inequity that certainly doesn’t serve our children (in) the best way.” Walz sees current childcare funding legislation working its way through the Legislature as a means to address those inequalities, just like they are addressed for state-level school funding in Minnesota. “It’s the right thing to do for the kids who are our future workforce … (by) making childcare affordable and making sure that the reimbursement rates make sense.”
It’s also a key to the continued success of the state’s economy. “When I meet with the business community, it’s not taxes that’s the first thing they bring up, it’s workforce and housing,” he said. Advocates have noted that expanding childcare slots in the state is critical to bringing more people into the workforce. With the state’s unemployment at a near-record low, businesses are increasingly struggling to find qualified workers.
When he wasn’t making his political pitch, Walz took time out to meet with a second grade classroom at Washington Elementary, read a book to a group of Head Start students, and inspected a classroom in the high school that needs new windows and doors.
Funding for families
Walz described two potential avenues for improving the funding of Minnesota childcare. The first was through need-based funding for families through tax credits. “We’re making sure we’re focusing on… cutting taxes for those families that need it the most,” Walz said, “making sure we reduce childhood poverty, and … making sure we’re able to adequately pay the workforce that (needs) early childhood (childcare) … We need to make the economics work for those families, so that we fund them to an adequate level.”
According to an April 6 statement from the Governor’s office, the latest proposal provides $547 million in tax credits in 2026-2027 to expand the Child and Dependent Care Credit, reducing costs for 100,000 Minnesota households. Under the proposal, families making under $200,000 with one child will receive up to $4,000 a year for childcare costs. Families with two children could receive up to $8,000, and families with three children could receive up to $10,500.
Other proposals are currently covered in other bills, including increased funding for Early Learning Scholarships, another program aimed at helping children from low-income families access high-quality childcare. 
Funding for providers
The Legislature is also exploring adding higher reimbursements for childcare providers participating in programs like the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). CCAP is partially funded by federal tax dollars.
Minnesota has historically not provided a full “match” of state funds for the federal funds it receives. Prior to the proposed legislation, the state’s CCAP reimbursement rate has been only 35 percent. According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Minnesota has the lowest CCAP reimbursement rates in the nation.
“The CCAP reimbursement rates in most states, whether it be Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, if they (meet the federal) match, they get a reimbursement rate of 100 percent. In Minnesota for many years, we were stuck at 35 percent. We’re proposing to raise that up. Those are our tax dollars (that) we already paid. (By meeting the match amount,) they will come back and make the reimbursement rates higher.”
More proposals
The other problem with childcare in Minnesota, especially in rural locations like Ely, is the lack of providers. According to the Governor’s office, other proposed legislation will expand the number of public pre-K seats in programs like Head Start for nearly 25,000 eligible children. In addition, the Governor’s budget addresses Minnesota’s childcare shortage by increasing staff compensation and supporting providers starting childcare businesses.
Pending legislation includes a proposal to create an Office of Child Care and Community Partnerships at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The office would administer a proposed $18 million over four years in DEED Child Care Economic Development Grants to support childcare and economic development in Minnesota.
In Ely related news, Walz did mention that at least one bill at the Legislature includes money to cover the funding gap for completing the Ely School District’s 21st Century Facilities Project, which was negatively impacted by the supply chain and inflation problems which started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vermilion college
While in Ely, Walz also visited the Vermilion Community College campus, where he discussed his proposed bonding and funding bill for infrastructure, which includes just over $3 million in improvements to the college facilities in Ely. Those improvements entail a roof replacement, the renovation of six classrooms, and the upgrading of two restroom pairs to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Proposals, not law
While the Governor has high hopes for additional funding for education and childcare, none of the bills covering the funding for tax credits and provider reimbursements have passed both chambers of the Legislature.
Two standalone childcare bills, HF 13 and HF 150, passed the House in February, but the measures remain in committee in the Senate. Most legislation passes toward the end of the session, and with six weeks left in the session following the Easter break, the Legislature has not yet entered the home stretch.
HF 13 increases the CCAP reimbursement rates for child care providers. HF 150 provides $12 million to extend pandemic-era business stabilization grants until this summer. It would also send $40 million to the Minnesota Department of Education for Early Learning Scholarship Fund for preschoolers. Other childcare bills will be packaged in omnibus bills for easy passage in the time crunch at the end of the session.
According to the childcare bills tracker maintained by the Minnesota Child Care Aware organization, 45 bills have been laid over for inclusion in an omnibus childcare bill. The two standalone bills, HF13 and HF150, and the bills that will be put into an omnibus, contain most of the provisions proposed in the One Minnesota budget which Walz talked about during his visit. Given the current Democratic Farmer Labor Party majority in both houses of the Legislature, the question will be not whether the bills pass, but which provisions will survive to the end.
Even though Minnesota is sitting on $17.5 billion in revenue surpluses from last year, everyone who didn’t get their anticipated funding in the legislative deadlocks last year has been down in St. Paul looking for money. As Ely Schools superintendent stated at the most recent Ely school board meeting, “Everyone is down in St. Paul right now with their hands out.”
Other visitors
Accompanying Walz on his visit were freshman state Sen. Grant Hauschild (DFL), Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Commissioner Ida Rukavina, and St. Louis County Commissioner Paul McDonald. At the morning visit, several Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency officials braved the icy roads between Ely and Virginia to listen to the Governor, including executive director Scott Zahorik, Head Start program manager for Ely Connie Derickson, and Arrowhead Head Start director Gabe Johnson.
Walz’s visit did include some lighter moments. The press conference assembled in the hallway between the new addition at the Ely School District campus and elementary school, just outside Principal Anne Oelke’s office. This resulted in several students and teachers cutting through the journalists and government officials gathered to hear the Governor speak. That included Ely Mayor and Washington Elementary fifth grade teacher Heidi Omerza, who led her class through the press conference on the way to her classroom because there was no other way around.