Minnesota school superintendents say funding system broken

GJB wrote:

I just want to see one thing from schools...
Regular public audits. Let us see where the money is going. Audit once every 4 years at a minimum, more often if schools are asking for an increase of funding that is more than the rate of inflation.

canoedog wrote:

I am surprised that many writers are so eager to privatize education. Private school tuition for schools in the metro that offer a K-12 education and a full academic program averages roughly $20,000 a year (add to that the money that comes from the annual campaign and endowment). Full service K-12 parochial schools average a bit over $10,000 (add to that annual campaign, church subsidies and teacher pay that often includes free tuition for their children in exchange for a lower pay scale. These schools are exempt from many state and federal mandates, and rarely accept students with special needs or significant academic difficulty.
In short, private education is significantly more expensive than public education (there are a few exceptions, typically driven by the munber of students receiving extra support services to compensate for poverty or concentrations of special needs children) Are we willing to fund the public system at the same level with extra money for each special needs child so we can compare apples to apples? Are we willing to write a check for the full tuition amount so students can choose these more expensive private schools?
The problem of school finance is a combination of unfunded mandates, some inefficiencies, cultural factors that do not encourage learning and the reality that we may not be providing enough funding for core services (money that cannot be used for programs that are legally required but not funded). It's easy to point a quick finger, but the problem is more complicated.

Peter wrote:

I know what'll fix it. Bring in another 100,000 indigent illegal aliens and refugees with no hope of paying the amount of taxes needed to support the schools. No, that'll make it worse? I agree. We need a "think before we import" policy on immigration.

Teach wrote:

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Another post that has nothing to do with the actual article. Thanks for nothing.

bill wrote:

Hey Get A Clue
I can tell you a liberal,

Peter wrote:

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It has everything to do with it. The more people that the schools serve that can't pay for the schools, the worse the school funding problem gets. It isn't everything, but it's a steady dilutive force eroding society's ability to fund education.

Mankato Mike wrote:

Minnesota needs to stop throwing money at the education mess and come up with a new plan. We have in real terms increased spending on K-12 by 28%(adjusted for inflation) the past 10 years while our student enrolment numbers have declined. MN spends 2.6 billion on special education and ESL each year. These children are not our future inventors and leaders who are being short changed by Minnesota schools. Parents of Gifted and Talented youths better be wealthy because most districts have the parents pay hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets to have their children tested and then these parents pay thousands more out of their pockets to place these students in accelerated classes at the UofM and elsewhere, yet we spend billions on children who are mentally challenged and inspire to one day clean up after us at McDonalds.
Minnesota needs to break free of Federal mandates that force us to spend 2.6 billion on special education and ESL (Supposedly reimbursed by the Federal Government but has never been so) and use this money to invest in the gifted and talented and “average” student body. We need to stop wasting 19% of our yearly State Education budget on future Wal-Mart greeters and spend it on our future engineers, scientists, and leaders!

Teach wrote:

That is correct but the problem the article is discussing is the system that funds the schools. Schools in MN are funded largely through property taxes. This leaves large discrepency's in school funding and hurts middle to lower class districts and districts that lack businesses.

jw in the grove wrote:

dist 883 has a referedum every 2 years or so , we need astro turf at 1.6 million. supers making close to 200 grand a year. indoor tracks, bridges inside schools, all while raising taxes, cutting busing,increasing class size, more fundraising by the students, they have a spending problem, nothing is broke but their priorities

jw in the grove wrote:

dist 883 has a referedum every 2 years or so , we need astro turf at 1.6 million. supers making close to 200 grand a year. indoor tracks, bridges inside schools, all while raising taxes, cutting busing,increasing class size, more fundraising by the students, they have a spending problem, nothing is broke but their priorities

Diane1 wrote:

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You must be new here. Most of the knee-jerk cranks here don't actually bother to read the articles. They just use this as a forum to spout confrontational views, usually based on no facts at all. Name-calling is generally what you'll get in place of debate, or something unrelated about immigration or welfare - as you've seen. Trying to get them to respond to an actual point or fact is usually futile.

jw in the grove wrote:

dist 883 has a referedum every 2 years or so , we need astro turf at 1.6 million. supers making close to 200 grand a year. indoor tracks, bridges inside schools, all while raising taxes, cutting busing,increasing class size, more fundraising by the students, they have a spending problem, nothing is broke but their priorities

Bob wrote:

My districts last referendum asked for $800,000 to replace all computers every 2 years. The referendum FAILED!!!
I wonder why?
Then my Senator used that failure as an example of why education needs a different revenue stream.
PLEASE, LET THERE BE BRAINS INSTILLED IN THESE ELECTED OFFICIALS!!! SOME HOW BRAINS PLEASE!!!!
EDUCATION IS MUCH LIKE LRT A CASH SINKHOLE!