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State Representative Andrew Falk
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4228
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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ADMINISTRATION’S SCHOOL FUNDING DELAY WILL HARM LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS
ST. PAUL, MN – State Rep. Andrew Falk (DFL – Murdock) expressed concern this week over the news that Governor Pawlenty’s administration would hold back $423 million in aid due to districts under a formula outlined in state law. The move, announced by Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) Tuesday as an effort to help pay the state’s bills this spring, will shortchange local schools $3.3 million. The funding delay will force schools to borrow for basic operations, paying interest over the long term.
“The Governor has stepped way over the line," said Rep. Falk. “It is unconscionable to force school districts already struggling with difficult financial realities to take on additional financial risk. The Governor in his stubbornness is choosing to invest in his own political future rather than the future generations of Minnesota.
Local school districts will face the following aid payment delays, totaling $3.3 million:
• Hendricks School District #402 $131,500
• Ivanhoe School District #403 $191,850
• Lake Benton School District #404 $222,758
• Benson School District #777 $880,550
• Canby School District #891 $500,963
• La Qui Parle School District #2853 $913,147
• Clinton-Graceville School District #2888 $404,462
To make the payment delay, MMB Commissioner Tom Hanson said he will invoke a never-before-used Minnesota law, passed in 1986, to cover Minnesota’s negative cash balance. The aid withholdings will be calculated on a formula based on a district’s fund balance. This will mark the second time in less than 12 months that Governor Pawlenty has delayed funding payments to Minnesota’s schools.
“At the end of last session, the Governor used unallotment to strip $1.2 billion from the state’s school districts in a cut that made no guarantee that schools would ever be paid back,” Falk said. “We can’t keep making Minnesota schools the scapegoats for our state’s budget problems. It’s our responsibility as state leaders to make fair, common sense choices that balance the budget responsibly without gambling away already scarce school funding.”
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