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State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Ben Schweigert 651-296-5809
Column/LTE
OUR SCHOOLS NEED MORE FUNDING
To the Editor:
Today the House of Representatives passed its Budget Resolution (HR6), which sets the maximum size of the state budget for the next two years. I am proud to say that I voted against it. This budget ceiling, which mimics the amount put forward by the Governor, is simply not enough. We have serious challenges in our state, most importantly education, and unfortunately the votes today showed that the House leadership and the Governor are not serious about building real, bipartisan solutions to these challenges.
School District 622, covering Oakdale, North Saint Paul, and Maplewood, will be making cuts this year of $4.6 million. Dozens of people will lose their jobs, including 35 teachers and other instructional staff. Special education will be cut. Sports and after-school activities will be reduced.
This is not acceptable. An excellent education system is the best way that we can ensure that our children have access to all of the opportunities that our society can provide. It is also the bedrock of a successful state economy: there is no resource more valuable to growing companies than a highly educated workforce.
We need more money in the budget for education than the House Budget Resolution will allow. The Governor has proposed the largest local property tax increases in history to supplement the money in this Resolution, but this is also an unacceptable solution. The state needs to take responsibility for our children’s future, not blame local governments, and we all know that property taxes have gone up too much already.
While we were voting on the Resolution today, I joined an effort led by Dan Dorman, a Republican Representative, to create a real solution for our schools by increasing funding in the bill. Unfortunately, he was one of only two members of his party to vote for it, and the measure was defeated. This showed me one thing: with a few courageous exceptions, the Republican leadership in the House would rather under-fund education than work in a bipartisan manner to give our schools the help that they need.
As the budget process moves forward, I will continue to look for opportunities to work with my DFL and Republican colleagues to generate new ways to solve our problems in education, health care, job creation, and transportation. Nothing will get done unless we all work together, and the bottom line is that something has to be done, particularly to help education. This Resolution is not going to do it.
Sincerely,
Leon Lillie, State Representative
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