posted 11/06/09

Is it fair or wise that Anoka Hennepin will be able to spend $165 per pupil, beyond what the state provides, South St. Paul will be able to spend $1010/per pupil, and North Branch won’t be able to spend anything beyond what the state provides? No. I think it’s wrong. It's not wise or responsible.

While 71% of the fifty-eight districts reporting to the Minnesota School Boards Association passed at least one of the requests that they made to local taxpayers, election results seem to show that Minnesota needs fundamental reform in how we fund public schools. Asking candidates for governor about what they will propose seems like a very high priority.

Based on information available at the Minnesota School Boards Association website, here are some of the decisions that voters made around the state. This varies by age of student. Minnesota also provides additional funds for students coming from low income families or families where English is not the first language.

The following are some of the district requests APPROVED for per pupil spending above the state average.

Anoka Hennepin will be able to spend $165
Rushford Peterson will be able to spend $940/pupil
South St. Paul will spend $1010/pupil
Wayzata will spend $1609/pupil
Ulen Hitterdahl will spend $1990/pupil.

Based on information from the Minnesota School Board Association, here are examples of places where tax payers said no:

Cambridge-Isanti, Rejected increase to either $288 or $319/pupil

Milaca, Rejected increase to $200-$500 per pupil, from $1/pupil

North Branch: Rejected request 140 - $335/pupil, currently no levy

Spending more is not an absolute guarantee of higher achievement. We have considerable research to show that some ways of spending produce greater gains in achievement and graduation rates than others.

Even so, don’t the figures above raise fundamental questions of fairness in amounts being spent per typical Minnesota student? As the statistics above show, this can vary by several hundred, up to $1900/pupil.

Over the next year, i’m going to write about several options for improving the way Minnesota funds its schools. Today, I simply want to share the figures above with you.

If it’s not fair for some districts to spend $940 or $1605, or even 1990 per pupil more than others, isn’t it time to change?