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State Representative Tom Anzelc
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4936
For more information contact: Michael Howard 651-296-8873
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ANZELC CALLS FOR RENEWED STATE INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION
Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL – Balsam) is calling on the state legislature to renew its investment into education in order to lessen the increasing reliance on local funding for Minnesota schools. Earlier in November, nearly 100 Minnesota school districts asked voters in their communities to pass levy increases, in order to in most cases, fund basic services in their schools. According to Anzelc, the increased weight of local school funding is damaging school districts across the state and must be reversed if Minnesota is to remain a national leader in education.
"This shouldn’t be about politics, and it shouldn’t be about winners or losers. As a society, and as a state, we have to invest in our kids and do it fairly," said Anzelc, a member of the House K-12 Education Finance Committee. "The Minnesota Constitution says that it’s the state's responsibility to provide a quality, uniform, education for our students. But what we're doing now is passing the buck to local communities."
The state legislature passed a strong education bill this past session that injected $800 million in new education funding, but Anzelc added that it would have been stronger if not for Governor Pawlenty opposition to an initial education bill. The Governor's refusal to support the first education bill that would have provided an increase nearly double the amount included in the final legislation.
"The Governor's veto struck a blow to school districts in our area like Lake of the Woods, International Falls, and Greenway-Coleraine, that have struggled mightily due to years of budget cuts." said Anzelc. "It was extremely disappointing given the Governor's abysmal track record of education cuts over the past few years."
In 2003, Governor Pawlenty and the Republican-led House of Representatives enacted the first real cuts in education funding in 20 years. Anzelc said that despite the strength of their education bill they passed this session, the damage of the 2003 cuts could not be undone in one year.
Anzelc also pointed out that an increased reliance on homestead property taxes for schools creates regional funding disparities in school districts. School districts in property tax rich regions of the state end up receiving more funding than school districts that do not have a similar property-tax base, like many communities in Northern Minnesota.
"When the state doesn’t meet its obligation to fund schools adequately we end up with unfair, inadequate funding disparities, and areas like Northern Minnesota suffer the most," said Anzelc. "The quality of education our kids receive certainly shouldn’t be determined by where they happen to live. It's not fair, and it's not how Minnesota earned a sterling reputation as a national leader in education decades ago."
Anzelc said that if new revenue is available next session, he believes that an increase in state funds for education should strongly be considered.
"We should make it a priority to rededicate the state's commitment toward education and I would support using new revenue toward that objective," said Anzelc. "The result would decrease the burden on local communities, and we'd have a better, more fair system to fund education throughout the state."
Anzelc believes the state needs to address public education with same sense of importance and duty that characterized the time of the "Minnesota Miracle" decades ago.
"My mentor, Governor Rudy Perpich, used to always say his 'tremendous public education was a passport out of poverty,' recalled Anzelc. "We gave schools and teachers in that era the tools and resources they needed – and in turn they delivered a top-notch, quality education. Recognizing the new challenges facing our education system today, its time our generation steps up to the plate and invest in the futures of our children and grandchildren."
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News Items
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