E-12 Education

In his FY 2008-09 supplemental budget, the Governor proposes a small cut of $2.4 million in total general fund expenditures for K-12 education. The House proposal, on the other hand, would increase total funding for K-12 education, including a one-time $51 per pupil funding increase to school districts. The House proposal would also allow school districts to transfer $51 per pupil from their capital reserve funds to their general operating budget, on a one-time basis. The House partially pays for this increase by freezing the Governor’s “QComp” initiative for one year.

Although the Senate proposal would slightly decrease overall funding for K-12 education, this hides some significant changes within the budget. Like the House, the Senate proposal would freeze the Governor’s “Q-Comp” initiative. But instead of one year, the Senate freezes funding for five years. The Senate proposal also includes an indirect funding increase for schools. Currently, the state subtracts from general education formula payments the revenues schools receive from the Permanent School Fund. The Senate would eliminate this subtraction, increasing the revenues going to schools by $29 million in FY 2009. The Senate proposal also includes cuts in funding for college preparatory opportunities such as Advance Placement/International Baccalaureate programs and Get Ready/Get Credit, areas that have generally seen large funding increases in recent years.

With a nearly $1 billion deficit, the Governor, Senate and House have each come up with their own solution to solve the shortfall for the current budget biennium. In this new issue brief, we analyze how each area of the budget - from the environment to health and human services - will be effected under each of the proposals.

The Governor’s proposal relies the most heavily on spending reductions, asking Minnesota’s most vulnerable – our low-income families, children, elderly and disabled – to bear a large share of balancing the state’s budget. The House and Senate plans include fewer spending reductions, turning instead to the other available tools – revenue increases and one–time resources to fill the gap. 

 Read the Full Issue Brief   (It's important.)