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September 4, 2005
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| Brooke Mensing prepared her classroom for the start of school in Eden Prairie. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire) |
Minneapolis, Minn. — Teachers, parents and students gathered recently in Minneapolis for that district's annual back-to-school rally. The event included, food, music and chance for students to pick up free school supplies.
School Board Chairman Joseph Erickson was handing out pencils and thinking about the school district's budget challenges. Declining student enrollment has led to school closures and teacher layoffs. Erickson said the increase in state funding won't have a big impact.
"If you look at the bigger picture, and I don't want to seem not thankful for the gift we got from the legislature, but ultimately if you factor in inflation and other related expenses, we're still two or three percent behind," Erickson said. "And that's without knowing what's going to happen with fuel costs this winter."
Still, Minneapolis will get $4 million more than school board members planned for. They based their budget on a 2.5 percent increase in state funds and got four. Part of the extra revenue will help them rehire some of the teachers who received pink slips last spring.
Louise Sundin, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, said this year's layoffs totaled 550 and few are expected to return.
"There aren't going to be too many called back," Sundin said. "There's probably going to be fewer called back than ever before. We're guessing that's it's probably going to be fewer than a hundred."
The financial picture looks a little brighter in some suburban school districts.
At the kindergarten center in Eden Prairie, Brooke Mensing prepared her classroom for the deaf and hard of hearing students she teaches. Despite Eden Prairie's recent budget cuts, Mensing has everything she needs.
"I haven't found anything thus far working here where I wanted it and wasn't able to get it through the district," Mensing said. "They've been very generous about curriculum materials that I need for deaf and hard of hearing, providing me with those."
School leaders in Eden Prairie put together a budget this year based on the expectation of no increase in state support. They trimmed spending by $3 million dollars even after district voters approved a tax increase for schools last fall. The four-percent increase on the formula means an extra $2 million dollars a year for Eden Prairie schools. But they'll benefit even more from another legislative action.
Superintendent Melissa Krull said the removal of the cap on school district levy authority means the referendum passed last fall will now generate an additional $3.4 million a year. Krull said her message to teachers and staff this year has been optimistic.
"We've been in darkness here for a few years with no state aid increases," Krull said. "And I can honestly say to them this year that we have some financial stability and I can look out five years and I can tell them that we have financial stability and I can count on it."
Krull said the improved financial picture in Eden Prairie will allow school board members to reconsider recent program cuts and fee increases.
In the Burnsville-Savage school district, declining enrollment means school leaders won't see any windfall in state aid. With all the talk about public education winning big in the legislative session, Superintendent Ben Kanninen must explain to residents why their district didn't gain financial ground.
"Once there's an opportunity for them to really look into it, they see not all school districts fared exactly the same, and it depends a lot on factors like enrollment," Kanninen said. "And so that creates some concern. And it does create a problem of overcoming that perception with members of the public."
Kanninen said the expanded levy authority for school district provides an option to increase revenue. The school board is already discussing the possibility of placing a referendum on the November ballot.
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