The 2007 Omnibus Education Funding Bill did not provide adequate funding to meet the on-going needs of school districts for the next two years.

There are a variety of issues pertaining to the 2007 Omnibus Education Funding Bill that must be addressed during the 2008 legislative session to ensure that all school districts throughout Minnesota receive adequate resources to meet the needs of their students.

• The net formula allowance over the past 16 years lags nearly $800 per pupil unit below where it should be given inflation over that period. ¹

• The 2% increase in the general education revenue basic amount for the 2007 fiscal year is simply inadequate to meet school district needs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation for the first half of 2007 in the Midwest region has risen by 3.6 percentage points. The situation will only get worse in the 2008 fiscal year, when only 1% will be added to the general education formula basic amount.

• The failure of the Governor and the Legislature to provide adequate funding for basic education needs sent 99 districts before voters to seek necessary funding through voter-approved referendum levies this fall. This demonstrates that the education funding bill passed in 2007 did not meet the needs of school districts throughout the state.

• Although the Legislature partially addressed the special education funding problem during the 2007 session, funding shortfalls still exist. The failure to set the appropriation at a level that truly meets the state’s obligation to its own formula means that it will continue to fall short of mandated and actual funding needs. Estimates of this shortfall are over $80 million for the current biennium.

• The Legislature took a symbolic step toward establishing a revenue stream for all-day kindergarten. This commitment was not sufficient to make voluntary all-day kindergarten a revenue-neutral option for Minnesota’s school districts.

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¹ MMKR

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