il miglior fabbro

I'll get back to the series on the SD 41 convention and the parade of candidates soon. In the meantime, I commend to your attention another great piece from Bill Glahn, who makes a point that the cheerleaders in the Met Council don't seem to understand:

Assuming the trends do not reverse, as this “baby bust” ripples through the rest of the K-12 system, more difficult choices will have to be made.  Through 13 years of K-12 education, 5,000 fewer students per year (assuming 25 students per teacher) translates into 2,600 fewer teachers, statewide.

The high school graduating class of 2031 is already here and toddling about.  The leading edge of the baby boomer generation turns 68 this year.  The future is no longer theoretical.

With birthrates at low levels not seen for a century, the challenge in Minnesota is less likely to be the massive population increase predicted by the Met Council regional government and more likely to be actual population declines.

Were you aware that live births in Minnesota have declined in recent years? All that and more, a lot more, at the link.