For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877

NEWS COLUMN

Rep. Dill, Senator Bakk respond to school funging questions

Recently, Senator Bakk, Rep. Rukavinia and myself had the opportunity to attend a Cook PTO meeting at the Cook School, which was organized to discuss the future of schools and action previously taken or to be taken at the Minnesota Legislature to improve educational opportunity. The meeting was very well organized and well attended. For the benefit of those who could not attend, it seemed that the questions posed should be asked and answered in the local newspapers.

Question 1. Is the current system for determining Title I funding, based on eligibility for Free & Reduced Lunch, mandated by law and can this system be updated to determine need electronically, for instance by use of tax return information?

Answer: Title I funding is a federal funding program. Eligibility criteria are set by the federal government and cannot be changed by the state of Minnesota.

Minnesota has a separate school-funding program called compensatory education. This program is also based on the free and reduced lunch counts in each school district. The Legislature could modify the formula to base the count on a different variable (census data, eligibility for MFIP, etc). However, a series of communications between the state department of revenue and the federal govt. during the 1990s pretty clearly suggested that income tax data could not be used to determine pupil eligibility. Many school districts complain that students, particularly secondary students, under report their eligibility for free or reduced price meals and that this formula therefore shortchanges them revenue. Parents can help schools by assuring that if a student qualifies for free or reduced meals they inform the school district of their qualification.


Question 2. What is the history on the Seasonal Property Tax Relief Law and how has this (negatively) impacted school funding in our District? Are there any changes to this legislation being looked at?

Answer: A number of changes to the property tax base have occurred over the last dozen years. Perhaps the most significant set of changes were made during the 2001 legislative (Ventura - Governor/Pawlenty - Majority leader of the House of Reps.) session. Among other things, these changes took the voter-approved operating referendum levy off both farmland and cabins (seasonal recreational property). Instead, the cabins pay a relatively small portion (5% of the total or roughly $30 million) of the statewide general levy, which is a property tax on only business and cabin property. The total amount of the State General Tax that will be collected in 2008 is $730 million.

Because cabins are excluded from the tax base, their values aren't included when districts are computing their referendum revenue amounts. In most cases, this means that the operating referendum tax rate is higher than it would otherwise be on the other property types located within that school district's boundaries. Additionally, some districts argue that these higher tax rates are a strong enough disincentive to voters that proposed referenda fail at the ballot box.

Senator Bakk had a provision in the 2007 Senate Tax bill that would remove the seasonal cabins from the State General Tax and reestablish the seasonal cabin classification as a component of the valuation included in the voter approved operating referendum. The House/Senate Tax Conference Committee was unable to reach agreement on the provision and it was dropped from the bill. Even if the provision would have survived and been included, the 2007 tax bill was vetoed by Governor Pawlenty.


Question 3. In Article XIII, Section 1 of the Minnesota Constitution, it states that …it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. It further states that the legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public school throughout the state. Do you feel that current legislation as it affects education is fulfilling this duty as outlined in the State Constitution? Have there been suits over this or legislation to force its enforcement?

Answer: Minnesota has had one major school finance-funding lawsuit during the last 30 years. This was a case filed in 1988 and finally decided in 1993 called "Skeen" under which the Minnesota Supreme court found Minnesota's school finance system to be constitutional. Here's a link to a really handy website about school finance litigation in all 50 states:

http://www.schoolfunding.info/states/state_by_state.php3


Question 4. With current laws regarding the option of home schooling students, is the parent or other responsible adult required to provide any certification or proof of proficiency similar to what is required of teachers in our public school system? If not, is this an area of concern that needs to be addressed to further ensure that home schooled students are receiving a quality education as required by the law?

Answer. Minnesota's compulsory attendance law under MS, section 120A.22, subdivision 10, allows parents to provide instruction to their children. There is no additional proficiency requirements that parents must satisfy before they provide the instruction. However, to ensure that home-schooled children receive sufficient instruction, the law requires that the children be assessed annually using a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement exam approved by the local school superintendent. Parents also must submit a quarterly report on their children in required subject areas. Additional information about how home schools operate in Minnesota is available at:

http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/sshomesch.pdf

Question 5: Minnesota has a history of leadership in the area of Early Childhood Education. Many studies support the lifelong benefits of Early Childhood programs. What is being done at the Legislative level to continue to support this important building block in the overall system of education?

Answer: Several initiatives were passed during the 2007 legislative session, brief descriptions of them are listed below. There will most likely be initiatives this year to create a department of early learning and to create a universal 4-year-old preschool program. Let me know if you need more...

Pre-kindergarten exploratory projects

The 2007 Legislature established three pre-kindergarten exploratory projects to be conducted in partnership with the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation to promote children’s school readiness. The three projects are located in St. Paul, Hennepin County, and Blue Earth County. The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation must design and evaluate the exploratory projects.

Parents or legal guardians with incomes less than or equal to 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines are eligible to receive allowances up to $4,000 per child per year to pay for their children’s education in a quality early education program. An allowance must be used during the 12 months following receipt of the allowance by the parent for a child who is age 3 or 4 on August 31, to pay for services designed to promote school readiness in a quality early education setting.

A quality early care and education setting in any service or program that (1) receives a quality rating from the Department of Human Services under the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation quality rating system administered by the Department of Human Services and (2) agrees to accept a pre-kindergarten education allowance to pay for services. For fiscal years 2008 and 2009 only, providers may satisfy the quality rating system requirements by receiving provisional quality rating system approval from either the Department of Human Services or the Department of Education. For 2008 and 2009, Head Start programs meeting Head Start performance standards and accredited childcare centers are granted a provisional quality rating.

Providers deemed eligible to receive a pre-kindergarten education allowance may use the allowance to enhance services above the current quality levels, increase the duration of services provided, or expand the number of children to whom services are provided. For fiscal years 2008 and 2009 only, when no quality program is available, an allowance recipient may direct the pre-kindergarten education allowance to a provider or program for school readiness quality improvements that will make the provider or program eligible for a quality rating according to the quality rating system.

School readiness service agreements

The 2007 Legislature established School Readiness Service Agreements (SRSA) for child care providers who apply to the Commissioner of Human Services, meet certain criteria, and perform services that support school readiness for children and economic stability for parents. The SRSAs allow the commissioner to pay higher child care provider reimbursement rates to up to 50 child care providers that represent diverse parts of the state and a variety of child care delivery models.

A childcare provider who has a service agreement with the commissioner will be paid a higher reimbursement rate for eligible families served by that provider. Eligible families must be eligible to receive childcare assistance, be in an authorized activity for an average of at least 35 hours per week when initial eligibility is determined, and include a child who has not yet entered kindergarten.

Entering into a service agreement does not guarantee that a provider will receive payment at a higher rate for families receiving childcare assistance. An eligible family must choose a provider participating in an SRSA in order for the higher rate to be paid. Payments through SRSAs are also limited by the availability of SRSA funds.

Family, Friend, and Neighbor Grant Program

The 2007 Legislature established a family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) grant program to promote children’s early literacy, healthy development, and school readiness, and to foster community partnerships to promote children’s school readiness. Grants must be used by community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes working with FFN caregivers in local communities, cultural communities, and Indian tribes to:

· provide training, support, and resources to FFN caregivers in order to improve and promote children’s health, safety, nutrition, and school readiness;
· connect FFN caregivers and children’s families with appropriate community resources that support the families’ health, mental health, economic, and developmental needs
· connect FFN caregivers and children’s families to early childhood screening programs and facilitate referrals where appropriate;
· provide FFN caregivers and children’s families with information about early learning guidelines;
· provide FFN caregivers and children’s families with information about becoming a licensed family child care provider; and
· provide FFN caregivers and children’s families with information about early learning allowances and enrollment opportunities in high quality community-based child care and preschool programs.

Grants may also be used for the following:

· health and safety and early learning kits for FFN caregivers;
· play-and-learn groups with FFN caregivers;
· culturally appropriate early childhood training for FFN caregivers;
· transportation for FFN caregivers and children’s families to school readiness and other early childhood training activities;
· other activities that promote school readiness;
· data collection and evaluation;
· staff outreach and outreach activities;
· translation needs; or
· administrative costs up to 12 percent of a recipient’s grant award.

Grants must also be used to fund partnerships among Minnesota public and regional library systems, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes to implement early literacy programs in low-income communities.