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DFL Legislative Leaders Announce Minnesota Schools Repaid $636 Million

Monday, September 30, 2013

Rep. John Persell

NEWS RELEASE

Minnesota House of Representatives

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Matt Privratsy

 (651) 296-6800

September 30, 2013 

 

DFL Legislative Leaders Announce Minnesota Schools Repaid $636 Million

Nearly $2.6 billion of the $2.8 billion borrowed from Minnesota schools has been repaid under the leadership of Governor Dayton and the DFL Legislature

 

ST. PAUL, MN – Today, Governor Mark Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, House Speaker Paul Thissen, Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter, and Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius announced that Minnesota schools were repaid an additional $636 million at the end of the 2013 fiscal year.

Under the leadership of the DFL legislature, Minnesota has now repaid nearly $2.6 billion of the $2.8 billion that was previously borrowed from our schools.

“It’s good to see the school shift nearly paid back,” said Rep. John Persell (DFL – Bemidji). “Paying back the shift, along with increased investments for All Day K and frozen tuition at our colleges, will help give our students a quality education.”

A decade of cuts, shifts, and gimmicks caused Minnesota to lurch from one budget crisis to the next – limiting the state’s ability to fund education and job creation. This year, the legislature put an end to roller-coaster deficits with a fair and balanced budget that put Minnesota on sound fiscal footing and delivered key investments in education.

“As a retired teacher, the school shift was one of the reasons I decided to become more involved in politics in the first place,” said Rep. Roger Erickson (DFL – Baudette). “It hurt our students two years ago and I’m proud to say we’ve almost completely paid it back less than a year after I started in the House.”

The new state budget signed into law this spring is projected to begin the next biennium with a surplus. The budget also invested over $600 million in Minnesota’s students – reversing a decade of disinvestment in education. This new funding is directed toward strategies proven to close the achievement gap, raise graduation rates, and improve student career and college readiness.

Today’s announcement comes just after Minnesota added 12,200 jobs in August, pushing total jobs in the state over the pre-recession peak that was reached in February 2008, and less than a week after Minnesota was ranked eighth in the “Forbes 2013 List of the Best States for Business” rankings.

 

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