During Inver Hills Visit, Franken Talks About Guns and Mental Health in Schools

During a visit to Inver Hills Community College, Sen. Al Franken spoke with Patch about legislation he plans on proposing to increase the number of mental health staff in schools.

Follow Eagan Patch on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter | Blog for us Since the shooting of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary, Sen. Al Franken has been meeting with government officials, school staff and law enforcement in discussions around school safety and gun control. During a Tuesday afternoon visit to Inver Hills Community College, Franken spoke with Patch about legislation he plans on proposing to increase the number of mental health staff in schools. “If you identify mental health issues that children have early on—and they’re treated—then kids with mental health issues grow up to be no more violent than the general population,” he said. Franken also echoed Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows’s …

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Week in Review: Debate Over Pilot Knob Gets Heated, Franken Visits Eagan Schools

Catch up on all the latest headlines when you check out our "Week in Review" feature.

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VIDEO: In Eagan Visit, Franken Discusses School Safety, Mental Illness and Assault Weapons

Sen. Al Franken met this afternoon with counselors, safety experts and ISD 196 administrators at Dakota Hills Middle School.

Franken Commends DARTS Learning Buddies Program on 15th Anniversary

DARTS is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Learning Buddies program.

Follow Eagan Patch on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter DARTS, a northern Dakota County nonprofit that provides aging resources, got a nod from Sen. Al Franken this week for the 15th anniversary of the intergenerational Learning Buddies program. The DARTS Learning Buddies program places senior-aged volunteers in Dakota County elementary school classrooms to tutor students in a variety of subjects. Learning Buddies began in 1997 at Glacier Hills Elementary School in Eagan with a handful of adults who read with children. The program now serves 28 schools in the area. "I'm sure those kids will appreciate not only the academic help that you gave them, but also the interest you showed in their growth and their …

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Sen. Franken's Staff to Visit Eagan Resource Center

Representatives of U.S. Sen. Al Franken plan to discuss the proposed federal Farm Bill and it's potential impact on the Twin Cities metro area.

Editor's Note: The following is a press release from the offices of Sen. Al Franken. On Wednesday, April 18, key members of U.S. Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minnesota) staff will be in Eagan to discuss how the federal Farm Bill now being debated in the Senate will have a direct impact on the well-being of hundreds of thousands of students, seniors and families in the Twin Cities Metro area.  Almost three-quarters of the billions of dollars in federal Farm Bill funding each year goes toward food and nutrition programs like school meals and hunger assistance.  The Farm Bill's impact will be felt, not only in the state's rural areas, but also by hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans living in urban and suburban areas.  At this meeting, Sen. Franken's…

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Eagan Patch Week in Review, Jan. 9-15

Each Sunday, Patch revisits the headlines with our 'Week in Review' feature.

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Franken Touts New Assessments To Eagan, Burnsville Educators

A proposed amendment to No Child Left Behind would put the kibosh on Annual Yearly Progress and institute new student assessments.

As far as U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D) is concerned, No Child Left Behind is in need of radical restructuring. “The only thing I liked about it was the name,” the Minnesota Democrat said during a visit to the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District on Thursday. “But that was the only thing we weren't doing—measuring every child’s growth.” Franken pitched a sweeping overhaul to No Child Left Behind to teachers and students gathered at Burnsville Alternative High School: A proposed amendment to No Child Left Behind that would cut the nationwide testing system know as Annual Yearly Progress assessments. When No Child formally debuted in 2001, the Bush Administration had envisioned those assessments as a means of rating the effectiveness of …

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Eagan Patch Week in Review, Jan. 2-8

Each Sunday, Patch revisits the headlines with our 'Week in Review' feature.

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VIDEO: Franken on No Child Left Behind Reform

An excerpt from Sen. Al Franken's wide-ranging presentation on education reform at Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Alternative High School on Thursday.

The No Child Left Behind Act, the lack of school counselors across Minnesota, early childhood education. Those were just a few of the topics Sen. Al Franken (D) took on during an hour-long listening session and presentation on education reform on Thursday. Held at Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Alternative High School, the event was the last in a series of visits and listening sessions Franken attended in Burnsville, Apple Valley and Eagan. More than 70 people, including a handful of alternative high school students, attended the presentation and participated in a Q&A session at the end of the event. The purpose of the visits, Franken's office wrote in a press release, was to  gather input on feedback from local education officials on No Child …

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