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Student achievement stagnates, latest test scores show
Minnesota students’ math and reading scores remained disappointingly low in the 2023-2024 school year, according to data released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Education. Fewer than half of tested students met state proficiency standards in reading and math, unchanged from the prior year. The data show that Minnesota students have not yet recovered from […]
Twin Cities police use physical force at rates well above national average
Minneapolis Police Department officers reported using physical force against suspects more than 1,000 times in 2022, one of the highest per-capita rates of police force in the nation, according to data released this week. MPD officers reported using force at the same rate in 2022 as they did in 2020, the year George Floyd was […]
The Topline: The asymmetric fraying of America’s social fabric
Welcome to The Topline, a weekly roundup of the big numbers driving the Minnesota news cycle, as well as the smaller ones that you might have missed. This week: Auto insurance rate hikes; data that debunks a Minneapolis myth; education and social connection; the geography of octogenarianism. CBS News reports that Minnesota is one of […]
More than half of violent crimes go unsolved in Minnesota
More violent crimes are going unsolved in Minnesota today than a decade ago, according to FBI data analyzed by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a nonprofit working on criminal justice issues. “In 2022, the year for which we have the most recent data, Minnesota saw 57% of violent crimes go unsolved, 5 percentage […]
Inequality, complacency behind Minnesota’s lagging student achievement, experts say
As a former public school geography teacher, Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has long said education is one of his top priorities. Walz has earned the enthusiastic endorsements of teachers unions through vigorous support of policy goals like school funding increases, along with opposition to conservative-driven privatization efforts. He has committed to […]
The Topline: How much cancer do pesticides cause?
Welcome to The Topline, a weekly roundup of the big numbers driving the Minnesota news cycle, as well as the smaller ones that you might have missed. This week: the link between pesticides and cancer; walking taco vs. taco in a bag; the health of Minnesota’s lakeshores; and new polling on Walz’s national favorability. A […]
Primary maps illustrate rural activist takeover of Minnesota GOP
Far-right conspiracy theorist Royce White won his U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday, taking advantage of a big field of candidates to eke out a victory with less than 40% of the vote. White was endorsed by the Minnesota Republican Party in May despite a lengthy history of bigoted comments against women, Jews and LGBTQ people, […]
What Minnesota primary voters are saying at the polls
Minnesotans are energized by the fall election after Vice President Kamala Harris selected Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, but Tuesday’s primary election is turning out to be a relatively sleepy affair. Republicans need to settle on a U.S. Senate candidate and vote in what could be a couple of close U.S. House […]
The Topline: Counting Lutherans
Welcome to The Topline, a weekly roundup of the big numbers driving the Minnesota news cycle, as well as the smaller ones that you might have missed. This week: Lutheranism; spending on the arts; Walz’s net worth; and a population-based argument for annexing the Dakotas. In an effort to discredit Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim […]
Former geography teacher Tim Walz is really into maps
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz really, really likes maps. The former Mankato geography teacher, now a vice presidential candidate, identifies as a “GIS nerd” and proclaimed November 15, 2023 as Geographic Information Systems day, writing that an understanding of maps and data “helps community leaders and government officials make data-driven decisions” governing important policy issues like […]
The Topline: Hennepin Board members to make more than U.S. senators
Welcome to The Topline, a weekly roundup of the big numbers driving the Minnesota news cycle, as well as the smaller ones that you might have missed. This week: Twin Cities crime; Hennepin Board pay in context; a 50-state property tax comparison; the biggest hailstone since 1986; and partisan pets. Violent crime continued to trend […]
Suicide ticks down, remains more common in Greater Minnesota
Minnesota’s suicide rate ticked downward in 2023, according to provisional data from from the state Department of Health. Last year there were 815 suicide deaths in the state, down from 860 the year prior. Adjusting for population, the suicide rate fell from 14.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2022 to 14.1 in 2023. Whether that decline […]