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State Representative David Dill
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-2190
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
NEWS COLUMN
WHEN IT COMES TO SCHOOL FUNDING, THE QUESTION SHOULDN'T BE HOW MUCH SHOULD WE CUT?
Throughout the 2005 Legislative Session, I've been in contact with parents, students, teachers and officials from area school districts. Almost all of them have asked me, "How much more are we going to need to cut?" That's because they've done the math with the Administration's education proposal and it doesn't add up.
If the Administration prevails, every school district is going to be faced with tough budget decisions. They're going to be asking themselves what are they're going to cut and how big are those cuts going to have to be.
Sadly, these aren't the questions we should be asking when it comes to school funding. What we really need to ask is where should we be investing to ensure that our students are successful.
Last week, Democrats in the Minnesota House unveiled our plan for school funding. It was based on what we've seen happening in schools around the state after the $185 million cut to education enacted two years ago. After watching class sizes explode, grades being combined, teachers get laid off and programs be eliminated, we decided the cuts had to stop. However, we also knew we had to be smarter with our spending and focus our investments where they'd do the most good.
In all, our Strong Schools plan includes $843 million in new education spending and avoids the property tax increases and heavy reliance on shifts found in the Administration's Education Finance plan.
It's an honest, straightforward solution to the financial crises at so many schools across the state. It will also stop the cuts to classrooms, prevent more teachers from being laid off, and put a brake on increasing class sizes. More importantly, however, it approaches the issue of school funding by asking where should we be investing our money to guarantee success, rather than where should we cut.
The plan would increase per pupil funding by 5% in each of the next two years, two percent higher than proposed by the Administration, and the bottom line amount most school professionals said was needed to prevent further budget cuts.
In addition, our Strong Schools plan will provide an additional 5% for special education in the second year of the biennium, dedicate funding for gifted and talented programs, and fund voluntary all-day kindergarten beginning in 2007. It also focuses much of the funding on the area where it can do the most good, early childhood education.
Of all the provisions, the Voluntary All-Day Kindergarten provision has the potential to do the most to ensure that every Minnesota kid succeeds in school. Kindergarten is the foundation of a child's education and all-day kindergarten has been shown to boost dramatically the learning abilities of all children.
The plan uses a balanced approach to revenue increases that includes a top income tax rate adjustment for Minnesota families earning over $250,000 a year, cutting bureaucracy in state government, and closing foreign operating corporation loopholes. We raise revenue by taking a fair, balanced, and transparent approach, based on ability to pay.
We don't shift costs or ask local school officials to raise taxes for us, like the Governor does. We also don't pit school districts against each other or regions of the state against one another. That's a big reason why I voted against the Republican plan last night. I know we can do better.
I also voted against it because I'm tired of reading in local newspapers about more teachers getting laid off or more course offerings being eliminated or programs being eliminated. We've seen it happen in every school district in our area. If the Administration's plan prevails, it will continue to happen.
Minnesota schools are as good as they are because previous generations asked the right question when they approached the issue of school funding. They didn't ask where should we cut. They asked where do we need to invest.
For the success of our students, we need to ask that question again.
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