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State Representative Tom Hackbarth
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-2439
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
OP/ED COLUMN
THE DISPARITY JUST KEEPS GROWING
By Tom Hackbarth
State Representative
A good education is the best thing we can give our children. It will prepare them for the future and help them to achieve the American Dream. Everyone deserves a good education. The writers of our state constitution believed this to be true as well, when they put into our constitution: “The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools.”
However, the current mechanism for funding our public schools is antiquated and needs to be revised. I have the privilege of representing four school districts in District 48A. And because these school districts are not in Minneapolis our schools will not see nearly as much funding as Minneapolis schools will.
Let’s compare the numbers of dollars in per pupil funding. In 2008 Anoka Hennipen schools will receive $9,032 and in 2009 $9,179. Forest Lake will receive $8,363 in 2008 and $8,498 in 2009. Elk River schools will see funding of $8,309 in 2008 and in 2009 that number will meagerly increase to $8,363. St. Francis will receive $8,174 in 2008 and in 2009 will receive $8,293. When we compare these numbers to what Minneapolis school will receive I am, to put it mildly, outraged. Minneapolis schools, in 2008, will receive $12,968 and in 2009 that number jumps to $13,701.
This kind of inequality is outrageous. We should treat each and every student in Minnesota the same. It should not matter if the student is in Morris, Bemidji, St. Francis, or Minneapolis: the funding should be the same across the board. The growing disparity between urban and rural is unacceptable.
The Democrats campaigned on better funding for all of Minnesota. But true to their Democrat fashion they elect leaders in the House, Speaker Kelliher, and Senate, Majority Leader Poegemiller, who are both from Minneapolis. The agenda is heavily skewed to help out Minneapolis, as is extremely visible here. They appear to forget about anyone outside the Beltway. The Democrats might as well campaign on the line “We Only Work For Minneapolis”, because they sure are not working for the rest of Minnesota.
It’s time to stop this political game. It’s time to work for the entire state. It is time for Minnesota to adopt a school funding formula that fairly funds all students, without regards to location.
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