Eight metro area school board members—representing 42 fellow school board members from the Twin Cities metro area and St. Cloud—voiced major opposition to the proposed cuts and funding shifts made by the Minnesota Legislature for K-12 public education.
“We find it unacceptable to pit school districts and students against each other because the legislative proposal results in wide variations in funding allocated to districts,” said Peyton Robb, a member of the Edina School board.
At a news conference Thursday, June 9, outside of , the eight met with the media to reiterate a position taken by the 42. They called for a more balanced approach, increased revenues combined with spending cuts and drew attention to the large disparities in funding allocations and reductions in funding streams.
“We are very concerned about large cuts targeted at the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth and St. Cloud schools as well as most of the metro are suburban school districts,” Robb added. “At the same time, rural and charter schools are not among those districts being cut and—in fact—are seeing per pupil aid increased.”
Natalie Fedie, a member of the Stillwater School Board, said a recent offer from the Republican majority in the Legislature to put back $80 million into K-12 funding was misleading because “it is not new revenue, but simply cuts from other programs.”
“If those cuts are in health and human services programs, then that doesn’t benefit any of us,” Fedie said.
The 42 school board members signed and sent a letter to legislative leadership last week expressing a myriad of concerns and arguments for re-thinking how the funding is presently being structured.
“School districts have borne the brunt of the accounting shifts over the past eight years to solve other budget deficits and districts would be forced into an even greater reliance on voter approved operating levies under this legislative proposal,” said Robb. “Districts have already had to borrow $416 million because of the shifts to meet monthly payrolls.”
He added that while fully understanding the budget challenges facing the state, the proposed budget neither maintains K-12 funding nor does it hold Minnesota children harmless when it comes to budget cuts.
Jim Gelbmann, a board member from the South Washington County School District—made up of communities like Woodbury, Cottage Grove and Newport—said his district has been “hesitant to innovate and plan because we don’t know if we will have the resources to continue new programs or innovative processes.”
“I have been on the board for 16 years and each year I have seen a decline in state commitment,” Gelbmann said.
Asked about a possible shutdown if no budget agreement is made by the end of this month, he said school districts will truly feel the ramifications of that once the next school year starts in late summer, “although there could be several who will be hit hard before then.”
John Hoffman, vice chair of the Anoka-Hennepin School Board, summed up the feeling of those present and all of the districts they represent.
“It is a slow death, 1,000 cuts at a time.”
Gelbmann himself needs to take note of his statements. "Hesitant to innovate". Because of funding? It is possible to move forward AND plan using the tools that you have today; it's called being INNOVATIVE. He's "seen a decline in State commitment" for 16 years? If he were really doing his job for the betterment of the District, shouldn't he have seen this coming after year 5 maybe? Maybe the Districts should call the City of Woodbury & other cities that weaned themselves off LGA for some tips! Then there's Fedie. "IF those cuts are in health & human services programs". Shouldn't she know & understand what she is protesting? MPR reported that Dayton did not agree with the K12 budget change because of the reduction in HEALTHCARE. I could find no information that defined healthcare as health & human services. Let me remind you, in MN, you cannot be refused medical care under LAW, especially if you cannot pay! Perhaps if these educators fear for cuts in other areas, such as health & human services, they should take a closer look at what they are asking for themselves. One more thing, the Legislature has matched Dayton's funding for K-12, perhaps the criticism of it's alleged inadequacy should be spread fairly to all in State government, not just the Legislature.
I used LGA as a reference of how an entity becomes reliant on State aide (in this case), thus eventually becoming completely dependent. Whether you agree with the economic development of Woodbury or not, it is a great community where over 60k people call home for a reason. If you despise it so much, so be it, you can certainly live somewhere else. We don't appreciate the hater mentality here anyway. Charter schools are one way our State has opened up educational options to our young people and families, and are indeed held accountable. If they fail to meet their objectives, they close; end of story. I don't know enough about vouchers to definitively say whether I would support them in their entirety, however, with choice comes freedom, and I am all for that. And criticize if you will, however, if you would like to put more backing on your words, do a little research, you may find that you still have learning to do. We all do. For more information on Charter Schools in MN, go to their website: http://www.mncharterschools.org/page/1/home.jsp
www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/35109429.html www.startribune.com/local/east/98573344.html www.startribune.com/local/east/99149539.html?elr=KArks:DCiUtEia_nDaycUiacyKUnciatkEP7DhUr www.startribune.com/investigators/75464082.html?source=error www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/77941807.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
I agree, you often will receive a biased viewpoint when directed to the site of the subject at hand, however, upon further read, you will note that the website of Charter Schools receives a score card from the MN Dept of Education that is a State issued review of their performance, and is available to the public on the MN Dept of Education website. The stories that you have cited are: 1. a study performed by one entity from 2008 that clearly does not provide what the measurement differences are between the traditional school and the charter schools expectations 2. 3 stories on the same school that indeed prove that the school has been held accountable 3. another disappointing depiction of how junk bonds have negatively effected the investor - this was true in the financial sector for virtually anyone that banked on them. I would suggest that if you have such intense issue with Ms. Lohmer, or any other State Representative, you talk with them. Taking your frustrations out on Patch isn't going to result as very productive if that is your wish. My intention is not to argue with your opinion, only to provide fact when available.
You can bicker and argue about numbers and funding formulas but the bottom line is the US is moving in the direction of having a second class educational system. Our standard of living and national security rely on a strong educational system.
The only reason we are doing so well in South Washington County is due to the generosity of our taxpayers, who have passed multiple operating and construction referendums during my tenure on the Board. We were forced to pass those referendums as we saw our state revenues fail to keep pace with inflation. Unfortunately, our property taxpayers can't afford to continue this model of funding K-12 education. The quality of a child's education should not be dependant upon the property wealth within the district he or she lives, nor should it be dependant upon the residents of the district to support supplemental operating levies for their schools.
Even districts like Jim has mentioned that in the past passed local referendums to help with funding these referendums are becoming more difficult to get on the ballot. These local referendums only fuels the fire for state legislators who want no new taxes at the state level only to push the burden down to local property tax. We compete in a global market and as much as I don’t approve of the have and have nots system in most of the world we still have to compete with them. I don’t approve of the environmental damage, child labor, one child law, and the corrupt communism in China but unfortunately I have no choice to buy Chinese products that flood the US and US industry has to compete with in every industry.