Page Amendment would ensure all Minnesota children have a civil right to a quality public education. Written By: Nevada Littlewolf | × Editorial cartoon by Shannon Walters of Duluth The Minnesota state constitution has been amended over 100 times since its ratification in 1857, though one provision of the constitution has remained unchanged: Article XIII, Section 1. The education provision. The provision from 1857 designed our public-school system to be “uniform” and “adequate.” Minnesota’s public-school system is functioning exactly how it was designed. But Minnesota children and families deserve more than “adequate” from the compulsory system. An October 2019 study by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve showed that Minnesota leads the nation in education gaps by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The problem persists in all 87 counties of the state. Most troubling, these gaps have been widening over the last two decades and getting worse with the pandemic response of hybrid and distance learning. We must face this immediately with transformative education policy.