The recommendations for educational reform in this document are submitted by the Attorney General's office to the Minnesota State Legislature in the context of two lawsuits related to at-risk students pending in state district courts. Recommendations related to early education include screening all young children for a number of problems, intervening early to relieve and prevent problems, supplementing child care, honoring local preferences in program design, redefining public education, and remedying infrastructure problems. Early childhood funding should be the top funding priority for the Legislature for 1997, with an emphasis on funding for young children living in poverty. The following recommendations are made for promoting student achievement: (1) develop and enforce rigorous graduation standards; (2) reduce class size; (3) adjust school hours; (4) extend the school day; (5) lengthen the school year; and (6) encourage alternative learning environments. Funding for charter schools, alternative learning centers, and other innovative alternatives should be provided by the Legislature. Recommendations are also made for expanding school choice, achieving numeric and programmatic integration of students, and working to integrate communities. Recommendations are also made to ease transitions from school to work and reform education finance. The recommendations in this report are consistent with past efforts in Minnesota and offer great potential to reduce the learning gap that separates at-risk students from their peers. (SLD)