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State Legislator's Comments

State Legislators Comments

Written by Paul Anderson - State House Representative 13A

Wednesday, 31 August 2011 13:11

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Fellow House Education Finance Committee member Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington), and I held a meeting with area superintendents and school board members August 30^th in Sauk Centre. Rep. Garofalo serves as chairman of the committee, which creates legislation that deals with the spending of nearly 40 percent of the state’s general fund budget, roughly $14 billion every two years. Schools represented at the meeting were Albany, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Cyrus, Melrose, Minnewaska Area, Paynesville, and Sauk Centre.

Rep. Garofalo called the K-12 finance bill passed in July the “best education bill in a generation,” in terms of starting the process of equalizing the funding stream for students all across the state. Currently, under our complicated system, students in metro area schools, for example, could receive several thousand dollars more in state aid than those in some out-state districts. The basic per-pupil funding amount is the same for all students, but other methods of allocating money to districts by categorical formulas account for the sometimes wide variation in overall funding levels. One superintendent put it this way, saying “the whole system needs to be more transparent and easier to understand. Then maybe we wouldn’t allow the current method to continue.”

Concern was expressed about a change in the education shift, whereby school districts will now receive 60 percent of their state aid in the current year and the remaining 40 percent over the next 15 months. Garofalo commented, “Schools will be receiving more funding than in the past, only it will take longer to get their full amount. They will now receive their entire allocation in 27 months.”

For the upcoming year, schools will be receiving their current share of 60 percent of state aid, in addition to the 30 percent portion that was withheld last year. This means most schools will be forced to borrow additional money to meet cash flow needs. Because of that, aid from the state was increased by $50 per student to help with the increased interest cost.

According to the latest set of numbers from research staff in St. Paul, all public schools in District 13A will receive increased per-pupil funding compared to last year. There are several different ways to make comparisons from year to year, with one comparing base funding levels and another by looking at actual dollars spent from year to year. Base funding is the most commonly used method by administrators, because comparing actual dollars also takes into account local changes such as referendums and special education students, whose numbers can fluctuate greatly. As a result, that method sometimes doesn’t give a clear picture of state money.

I had a good time recently at the Stearns County Corn Growers golf outing at the Lynx Course in Sauk Centre. The event attracted 38 four-person teams who enjoyed the day’s activities. We heard lots of talk about the status of this year’s corn crop, which has been affected by too much rain most of the summer. As this is written, topsoil in most areas is getting dry, and the weather forecast is calling for much cooler temps, with lows predicted to be around 40 degrees over the weekend. The last thing we need around here is an early freeze, which would put an end to the year’s growing season.

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