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State Representative Jeanne Poppe
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4193
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
NEWS COLUMN
LET'S CONTINUE TO MAKE EDUCATION A TOP PRIORITY
As your State Representative and an educator, I consider the protection and improvement of public education one of my top priorities. Last year, we fought hard to get an adequate school funding bill passed, providing a 4% increase on the per-pupil formula for the next two years. Since this is not a budget year, we will not be working on further school funding initiatives. However, there continues to be some good news for public education in Minnesota.
As a result of the budget surplus last November, the school shifts are in the process of being paid back. When school funding money was used to balance the budget in '02 and '03, a provision was passed mandating that in the event of any future budget surplus, the schools would be paid back first. That promise is being honored, and by May, most of that money will be paid back.
The erosion of state funding for public schools over the past few years has left many districts with no choice but to increase class sizes to save money. When it comes to class sizes in public schools across the state, parents, teachers and students all agree, many times they are too big. With more students competing for their teacher's time and attention, the impact on their ability to learn is significant.
I am following legislation that is moving forward in the Senate that would address this growing problem by offering schools incentives for keeping their class sizes down. The straightforward plan would offer additional funding to those schools able to meet the recommended size guidelines, such as fewer than 20 students in K through 3 classrooms and fewer than 25 in grades 4-6. In English, math, science and social studies classes in middle school, class sizes would be maintained at 25 students and 28 in high school.
In addition, the legislation would require the Commissioner of Education to include class-size information on school performance report cards. This information is not currently being tracked and would give us a better understanding of the challenges our educators and students are facing.
Although this bill was not given a hearing in the House, I am hopeful the Senate will pass it and we will be given the opportunity to vote on it on the House floor.
A proposal for funding for a University of Minnesota in Rochester was heard in the Higher Education Finance Committee on Wednesday. Testimony was presented on the merits of establishing this new university, with findings included from a report conducted by the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee.
Over the past few years, funding for higher education in Minnesota has been cut dramatically. This has led to an increase in tuition of 80 percent at the University and over 55 percent at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) campuses. Riverland Community College, which is located in Austin, saw a tuition increase in 2002 of 12.1%, followed by 11.6% in '03, 13% in '04 and 13% in '05.
There are also improvements needed at our colleges and universities. Riverland needs roof repairs and windows replaced, and according to MnSCU funding requests, many other colleges are also in need of basic maintenance and repairs. It is difficult to support the creation of a new university, which is estimated to cost as much as $40 million over the next five years, if it drains the resources of all the others.
In the end, it comes down to allocation of resources. I believe that before we split our funding for higher education into any more pieces to add a new university, we first need to make sure we are adequately funding the schools already operating.
Please continue to contact me with your suggestions and feedback. I can be reached by phone at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193, by mail at 231 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at the above address. If you are interested in receiving my weekly session e-newsletter, please email me at rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn and your name will be added to our list. If you would like to stay more closely in touch with what is happening at the legislature, visit my website at http://www.house.mn/27B or the House of Representatives website at www.house.mn.
News Items
- POPPE SELECTED AS AGRICULTURE POLICY COMMITTEE CHAIR - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Rep. Jeanne Poppe Encourages High School Juniors to Apply for Minnesota House of Representatives Page Program - Application Deadline is November 19th - (Posted: 2012-11-12 00:00:00)
- HORMEL INSTITUTE EXPANSION SIGNED INTO LAW - 2012 legislative session adjourns sine die - (Posted: 2012-05-11 00:00:00)
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