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Education needs spending increases and reforms

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton sent out a reminder Wednesday that there are less than seven weeks left in the 2017 Legislative session. Attached to that reminder was some charts and information on how much he proposes Minnesota spend on education compared to Republican proposals.

The governor wants to increase funding for education from early childhood to grade 12 by $711 million. He seeks a 2 percent increase in the K-12 education formula in each of the next two years and increased funding for voluntary pre-K programs and special education.

Students in Marshall and surrounding school districts will greatly benefit from Dayton’s proposal. Marshall Public Schools would see $1,408,740 in new funding. It would also receive a big boost in its pre-K program under Dayton’s plan with $768,030 in funding. Dayton wants voluntary universal preschool to help close the academic achievement gap.

Dayton would also add $19 million to increase “equalization aid” to some suburban and rural districts to help pay for new buildings and maintain old ones. School districts in these areas have fewer businesses to tax and the burden of capital levies falls on homeowners and farmers.

The Republicans-controlled Senate and House propose far less increases for education. The Senate version only increases total education funding by $300 million, while the House is even lower at $271 million.

Marshall Public Schools would only get $854,136 more in the Senate version and $608,349 in the House version. No new funding for Marshall’s pre-K program is listed under the Senate or House version. Republicans argue that universal preschool is too costly and favor a scholarship program which now costs about $60 million a year.

As far as the equalization aid, increases have bipartisan support, but Republicans have expressed concern about the growing long-term cost.

Education spending, from preschool to college, has already risen more than $2 billion during Dayton’s tenure. Some of the increases went toward new programs and new students. But the majority of the increases was focused on shoring up schools’ budgets after years of stagnant support.

Many Republicans argue that you can’t throw money at problems. They say not enough improvement has been seen after these increases. They would rather see more reforms.

“Money is certainty critical in terms of educating children. We also have to look carefully at what we are getting and the results for our money,” Rep. Jenifer Loon, R-Eden Prairie, said in a Twin Cities Pioneer Press article. She said the state’s lack of success closing achievement gaps between poor and minority students is perplexing.

“It is a signal to our schools that what they are doing is not working. We need to be redoubling our efforts to be innovative, to be trying new strategies, to show results.”

The Republican argument about not seeing results from past spending increases is a little weak. You can’t expect to see significant results in just a few years. Pumping money into preschool education is an investment that will pay off well into the future. The real results will be seen five to 10 years down the road.

However, the idea at looking at more reforms is warranted. Hopefully, the governor and Republicans can close the gap between the proposals before the session ends and come up with a plan that puts students first with the needed increased spending and mechanisms that inspire reforms.

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