This November voters all over Minnesota will have to decide whether or not to approve the renewal of operating levies that help fund education in the state. Many of the levies are renewals of what was already in place, but some ask for additional money to keep up with inflation or support new initiatives. We hear a lot about school levies, but why do we keep having to do this year after year? Why do 90% of Minnesota districts have to depend on levies just to fund regular operations that the state is supposed to be funding?
Basically, every district in the state of Minnesota currently receives a certain amount of money per pupil. There is a formula that the state uses. The problem is, though, that the amount that districts receive has not kept up with the inflation rate, and Minnesota districts are having to ask their local taxpayers for levies to make up the difference. Even with the additional $50 per pupil increase put in place last year at the state level, this amount is nowhere close to paying for operating expenses in most districts. The amount districts have to pay for operations and services is now greater than what the state gives them to pay for it.
When these levies are not approved, school districts suffer the consequences, and since districts do not receive enough money to pay for operating expenses, they are often forced to make severe staff cuts, program cuts, and reductions to sports and extra curricular activities. According to a recent Minnesota 2020 survey, fewer and fewer districts in the state are able to fund their schools without levies. Now about 90% of the Minnesota districts have at least one levy in place. This is only expected to get worse unless the funding formula changes.
93% of the Minnesota superintendents polled in the Minnesota 20/20 survey believe that the Minnesota funding system is "broken." That is because most of the superintendents have been forced to cut staff, resources and other vital services to students. They also believe that without change in Minnesota state aid the educational quality will worsen for all districts, which will also have a negative impact on communities. The levies will not only help the districts but also the community as a whole; many families choose their home based on the school system around.
So, in short, the burden of funding education is increasingly being placed at the local level because the state does not have the money to fund it at the state level. This will continue unless the funding formula is changed.
