April 17, 2008 – Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher today called for lawmakers this session to provide an inflationary increase to schools and then begin to tackle long-term, fundamental school funding reform.

Education Minnesota staff compiled budget data by searching news reports and school Web sites and calling district offices. Statewide, districts are facing a combined budget shortfall of at least $123.8 million.

“An inflationary increase isn’t the perfect, long-term fix for all of our schools, but it will provide a stop-gap measure until we tackle the larger problem,” Dooher said.

Lawmakers have proposed funding reform legislation, which they hope to have on the legislative agenda next session. Dooher said the proposal is a good starting point, and that long-term funding reform must include four guiding principles. Education funding must be:

• Equitable. The quality of a child’s education cannot be determined by his or her ZIP code. All Minnesota children deserve a world-class education.
• Sustainable. It must come from stable sources that we can count on.
• Predictable. It must be able to withstand inevitable downturns in the economy.
• Sufficient. It must provide the resources necessary to meet defined expectations for our students and our schools.

“I’ve heard some say that now is not the time for this kind of reform. But the truth is, there will never be a perfect time to increase funding. There is no rewind button available to a child who is now in kindergarten, or first grade, or eighth grade, or 12th grade. We have to make it happen for them now,” Dooher said.

The basic formula allowance will increase only 1 percent next year if the state leaders fail to act. The Legislature did not do its job last year for schools, and state leaders have not prepared for inevitable economic downturns, Dooher said.

“State funding simply has not kept up with inflation and the growing demands on the K-12 education system,” Dooher said.

In addition, Education Minnesota research found that the per pupil amount that districts have raised through referendums has risen continuously over the past 20 years, from $126 per pupil in 1986 to $901 per pupil in 2009.