It's not true Kelley, they meant Park Rapids

Posted on Sun, Oct. 08, 2006
More school districts seeking tax increases to meet basic needs

Associated Press
NEW ULM, Minn. - The New Ulm School District is asking voters for more money this year, but it's not for anything like a new school, new computers or additional course offerings. Instead, it's to keep up with the basics: Paying teachers and buying more textbooks. And if the $400-per-pupil operational levy referendum fails, school officials say, the district will be in a big jam. "Our quality of education will diminish," Superintendent Harold Remme told The Free Press of Mankato. It's a plight increasingly common to Minnesota school districts, 68 of which are going to voters this fall asking for a local tax increase just to meet core needs. New Ulm is a prime example of the problem facing districts around the state, hit by a decrease in state funding and declining enrollment - 800 fewer students during the past 10 years. District officials insist they've been responsible stewards of their finances, making $2.9 million in budget cuts over the last three years by, among other things, cutting energy consumption 25 percent since 1996 and making plans to close its middle school in 2008. Other districts, in communities like Belle Plain and Nicollet, find themselves in a similar situation, and are asking taxpayers for more money for operating costs. Greg Abbott, a spokesman for the Minnesota School Boards Association, said 90 percent of Minnesota districts rely on operating levies to keep a lid on class sizes and hire teachers - compared to 47 percent in 1986. Though the state per-pupil funding level has seen increases the last few years, he said, they've been outpaced by expensive new mandates for such things as special education and testing requirements from No Child Left Behind. "The (state) isn't providing the money it takes to educate all students," Abbott said. "Leaving no students behind is a very costly proposition. If you have a student with severe needs, it's very costly." That leaves districts with two viable options - cut costs or try to pass an operating levy. For some districts, the situation is approaching dire. In Pelican Rapids, school officials have publicly stated that if voters don't pass an operating levy this fall, they will be forced to entirely eliminate extracurricular activities - sports, speech, Knowledge Bowl and National Honor Society. "What I see happening across the state is a growing understanding that Minnesota funding is broken," said Greg Vandal, a founding member of P.S. Minnesota, a statewide coalition of educational organizations. The group is working on a new model, which it calls standards-based funding, which would allot different amounts of money per pupil based on individual circumstances. It would allot more money to students in special education, who need English-language learning or are low-income, among other factors. Vandal said the group hopes to have a formula ready for state lawmakers to consider in January. --- Information from: The Free Press, http://www.mankatofreepress.com