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By Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
May 4, 2001
Part of MPR's online coverage of Session 2001
The Minnesota House and Senate have approved K-12 education bills that are about $100 million dollars apart on new spending, but both offer considerably more than Gov. Ventura's budget.
A conference committee must now shape a compromise, and differences over the Profile of Learning graduation standards are expected to once again complicate the negotiations.
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EACH EDUCATION SPENDING BILL totals nearly $9 billion, but differ significantly on how the money is distributed. The Senate K-12 bill provides $458 million in new spending over two years, compared to a $355 million increase from the House. Gov. Ventura's budget plan included $114 million in new spending.
Senate K-12 Education Finance Committee Chair LeRoy Stumpf says the Senate bill, which includes the money for schools and statewide education programs, is a good bill.
"If you compare it to what the governor brought to the Legislature, which I think really got the troops out there all across the state upset. Parents, teachers, the school administrators, everybody else was wondering what they were going to do when they saw the governor's budget," Stumpf says.
The Senate bill provides additional money to districts that haven't convinced local voters to pass excess tax levies. It rolls the state portion of the local levies into the general education formula to help property-tax-poor districts keep pace with wealthy districts.
"Obviously the bill makes the funding formula more complex than it was at the beginning of the session. So from my standpoint, that's a step in the wrong direction," according to Republican Sen. Kenric Scheevel, who tried unsuccessfully this session to simplify the education funding system.
The Senate funding bill passed on a 46-18 vote. Senators approved a separate education-policy bill, dealing with school rules and requirements, on a 60-5 margin.
The House K-12 funding bill also included several policy changes. The measure, which passed on a nearly party line vote of 72-61, provides specific money for districts with declining enrollment, more equity funding for low-revenue districts and would lift the cap on voter approved operating levies.
House K-12 Chair Alice Seagren says it also prevents school boards from negotiating teacher contracts they cannot afford. "We have a structural balance piece in our bill that says, just like the state, whatever revenues you get, you have to stay within those revenues in your spending."
Two years ago the Legislature approved $1 billion in new spending for K-12 education. This year's leaner approach didn't satisfy House DFLers. They wore buttons displaying the D- for the letter grade they gave the K-12 bill.
Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, and other Democrats took turns describing the possible impact on their home school districts. "This bill shortchanges the young families with children in my district and in my city. This bill shortchanges the gifted and talented children in my district and my city, and all the richly-hued children in my district. I can't vote for a bill that creates winners and losers," Mahoney told other lawmakers.
The predictions of doom didn't phase Republicans. Rep. Mike Osskop, R-Lake City, says the DFL argument was off the mark. "I'm so tired of hearing about the children, I could just puke. This bill, the K-12 education funding bill, has absolutely very little to do with children. The K-12 funding bill is about salaries and benefits for teachers."
The House bill also repeals the three-year-old Profile of Learning graduation standards. The Senate voted down a repeal attempt last week and again Thursday before the final vote on its education policy bill. The show-what-you-know standards could once again be a major sticking point in conference committee negotiations.
"It's really important we have high standards. Other states have high standards. We need to be able to compare favorably not only to other states but internationally," according to Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, chair of the Senate Education Policy committee.
Gov. Ventura has consistently backed the Profile and threatens to veto any attempt to scrap the graduation standards. House-Senate conferees will soon start tackling the spending and policy differences as the session enters its final weeks.
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