Equity
Where do you live? - Cost of Operating Referendum for Each School District
Maximum allowed referendum by law is $1,605 per pupil. This chart calculates how much this referendum would cost annually for the local taxpayer in each school district
[Excel format] | [.pdf format]
District Referendum Effort Information
Lists each district's current referendum and the annual cost to the local taxpayer for that referendum.
[Excel format] | [.pdf format]
Disparity Charts for SEE Districts
Charts compare the cost of referendums between districts.
Revenue Disparity The gap in funding between school districts is growing and most of the growth is due to disparities of referendum revenue between districts. [Letter] | [Graph]
State Aid/Local Levy Ratios
These charts show how equalization aid has eroded for SEE districts since the inception of the equalization aid program in 1993.
Referendum Market Value (RMV) Growth
These charts show the growth of the state average and SEE districts' referendum market value along with the state equalizing factor. Since the equalizing factor has not been indexed since 1995 to reflect rising property values, taxpayers in low property wealth districts now pay two to four times more than similar taxpayers in high wealth district to generate the same amount of referendum revenue for their schools.
Adequacy
The History of the General Education Basic Formula
The basic formula is per pupil funding that districts receive from the state. These dollars determine a district's operating fund. This chart shows that the basic formula would have to be increased by $1,903 for schools to have the same buying power they had back in 1991.
[Excel format] | [.pdf format] | [Graph]
2011-12 Revenue Comparisons by District (SEE districts highlighted)
[Excel format] | [.pdf format]
Revenue Comparisons for SEE Districts
Compares state aid by categories for SEE districts to other regional districts.
Education Finance Presentation
Eric Nauman - Senate Fiscal Analyst
[PowerPoint] | [.pdf format]
More School Funding Information
Minnesota School Finance: A Guide for Legislators
Minnesota House of Representatives
Fiscal Analysis Department
Education Funding in Minnesota 2011-12
Minnesota House of Representatives Fiscal Analysis Department - September, 2011
New School Year Brings Steep Cuts in State Funding for School
Elementary and high schools are receiving less state funding than last year in at least 37 states, and in at least 30 states school funding now stands below 2008 levels – often far below. These cuts are attributable, in part, to the failure of the federal government to extend emergency fiscal aid to states and school districts and the failure of most states to enact needed revenue increases and instead to balance their budgets solely through spending cuts. The cuts have significant consequences, both now and in the future: They are causing immediate public- and private-sector job loss, and in the long term are likely to reduce student achievement and economic growth.
Center of Budget and Policy Proirities - October 7, 2011
Education Week Quality Counts 2011: Uncertain Forecast - Education Adjusts to New Economic Reality
January 13, 2011
Overall Grade
Nation Earns a C for Education Policy and Performance
Minnesota Earns a C -- Ranks 36th in the Nation
The nation receives a C when graded across the six distinct areas of policy and performance tracked by Quality Counts. Most states fall between a C-plus and a C-minus in the grading.
Chance for Success
Nation Earns a C+ for Chance for Success
Minnesota Earns a B+ - Ranks 8th in the Nation
The Chance-for-Success Index provides a unique perspective on the link between education and beneficial outcomes at each stage of a person’s life.
K-12 Achievement
Nation Earns a D+ for Chance for Success
Minnesota Earns a C -- Ranks 9th in the Nation
The K-12 Achievement Index evaluates how well a state’s students perform compared with those in the top-ranked state on 18 separate criteria. The index takes into account three performance- based categories: current state performance, improvements over time, and equity as measured by poverty-based achievement gaps. Each of these achievement outcomes is measured in terms of both current performance levels and changes over time.
Transitions and Alignments
Nation Earns a C+ for Chance for Success
Minnesota Earns a C- -- Ranks 38th in the Nation
This section tracks state efforts to better coordinate the connections between K-12 schooling and other segments of the educational pipeline, with a particular focus on three stages: early-childhood education, college readiness, and links to the world of work.
School Finance
Nation Earns a C for Chance for Success
Minnesota Earns a C -- Ranks 23rd in the Nation
The indicators on which states are graded encompass two crucial dimensions of education finance: school spending patterns and the distribution of resources within a state.
Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card
In this report, “fair” school funding is defined as a state finance system that ensures equal educational opportunity by providing a sufficient level of funding distributed to districts within the state to account for additional needs generated by student poverty. Fairness is based on four separate measures:
Funding Level - Minnesota ranks 15th: This measures the overall level of state and local revenue provided to school districts, and compares each state’s average per-pupil revenue with that of other states, including states within the region. To recognize the variety of interstate differences, each state’s revenue level is adjusted to reflect differences in regional wages, poverty, economies of scale, and population density.
Funding Distribution - Minnesota 3rd in the nation with a A: This measures the distribution of funding across local districts within a state, relative to student poverty. The measure shows whether a state provides more or less funding to schools based on their poverty concentration, using simulations ranging from 0% to 30% child poverty.
Effort - Minnesota is 30th in the nation earning a D: This measures differences in state spending for education relative to state fiscal capacity. “Effort” is defined as the ratio of state spending to state per-capita gross domestic product.
Coverage - Minnesota ranks 20th in the nation: This measures the proportion of school-age children attending the state’s public schools, as compared with those not attending the state’s public schools (primarily parochial and private schools, but also home schooling). The share of the state’s students in public schools, and the median household income of those students, is an important indicator of the distribution of funding relative to student poverty (especially where more affluent households simply opt out of public schooling), and the overall effort to provide fair school funding.
