Catrin Wigfall

Minneapolis

Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment

Featured in: Favicon

americanexperiment.org Favicon

twincities.com Favicon

inforum.com Favicon

southernminn.com Favicon

dl-online.com Favicon

echopress.com Favicon

alphanews.org Favicon

crowrivermedia.com Favicon

crookstontimes.com Favicon

grandrapidsmn.com

Articles

Stop saying low test scores are because of opt-outs

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

A recent CBS News article interviewed new Education Minnesota president Monica Byron on the state of education as she takes the helm of the teachers’ union, with reporter Esme Murphy reminding her and readers that less than half of Minnesota students are proficient in both reading and math. According to Byron and Education Minnesota, the low test scores are a “result from a critical statewide teacher shortage, and more students are choosing to opt out of tests,” continues the article.
Highest Minnesota graduation rate on record paired with lowest proficiency

1 week ago | alphanews.org | Catrin Wigfall

(Center of the American Experiment) — The four-year graduation rate for Minnesota’s class of 2024 is the highest to date at 84.2 percent, according to newly released data from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Yet, the class of 2024 has the lowest math and reading proficiency results among graduation cohorts with a reported graduation rate.
Highest MN graduation rate on record paired with lowest proficiency

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

The four-year graduation rate for Minnesota’s class of 2024 is the highest to date at 84.2 percent, according to newly released data from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Yet, the class of 2024 has the lowest math and reading proficiency results among graduation cohorts with a reported graduation rate.
Nearly 3/4 of public school teachers support ESAs

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

A spring teacher survey reveals strong support for education savings accounts (ESAs) in K-12 education. This includes 81 percent of private school teachers and 74 percent of district school teachers. Developed by EdChoice and conducted by Morning Consult, the March 2025 survey of 1,032 K-12 teachers nationwide asked educators their opinion of ESAs, first without a description and then with a description. More teachers expressed support when given a description of the choice program.
How would special education be impacted without a U.S. Dept. of Ed?

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

The Trump administration’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Dept. of Education and eliminate its cabinet-level bureaucracy has stirred up headlines that such a move would strand K-12 students without resources or support. According to the White House Fact Sheet, while the EO directs the Secretary of Education to take necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education, the “delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely” are to continue.
Choice programs don’t function the same way

2 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

American Experiment’s $7k for Kids initiative in partnership with Opportunity for All Kids has prompted thousands of Minnesotans to email their legislators, encouraging them to support legislation that would provide students access to alternative learning environments and educational resources. Legislators in opposition have been responding to their constituents with similar copy-and-paste messaging, lumping all choice programs together as “voucher” systems.
MN Senate no longer wants academic standards to be ‘grade-level appropriate’

2 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

The Senate Education Policy Omnibus bill passed last week has removed the requirement that Minnesota’s K-12 academic standards be grade-level appropriate. Currently, Minnesota statewide academic standards in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, health, and the arts must “be clear, concise, objective, measurable, and grade-level appropriate,” but SF 1740 strikes “grade-level appropriate” from the requirements. Why?
American Experiment opposes proposed ideological teaching license

2 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

Gov. Tim Walz’s Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) recently requested public comments on its proposed prek-12 Ethnic Studies license, which is written in such a way that politicizes the licensure pathway and further compromises the state’s education standards from political impartiality. This “liberated” version of Ethnic Studies is rooted in narrow ideologies that emphasize an “us vs.
MN Dept. of Ed won’t comply with federal DEI rules

3 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

The Minnesota Department of Education will not comply with federal reforms that include curbing the use of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in K-12 education. The U.S. Department of Education sent letters to K-12 state commissioners requesting them to certify compliance with “antidiscrimination obligations in order to continue receiving federal financial assistance.
Rise of bureaucracy

3 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | Catrin Wigfall

Has the public school system become a jobs program for administrators? The perennial refrain regarding Minnesota’s public education system is that we must fully fund education and that teachers need more resources in the classroom. So, common sense says that the most important thing to spend education dollars on is a well-equipped, high-quality teacher for every classroom. But that’s not what we’re seeing.