This is a report to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) by Charlie Kyte, Executive Director.
The video and audio podcast are each about 8 minutes long. Click on either to view.
THERE IS ANGST AND FRAYED TEMPERS ALL OVER THE STATE:
We are hearing from our members all across the state. The process of making staff and program cuts while having so much uncertainty is really unsettling. Many of you are also seeing the beginnings of the negotiations process as staff is increasingly nervous about salaries and the future.
Good luck as you work through the many difficult challenges ahead.
THE THREE K-12 EDUCATION FUNDING POSITIONS:
Governor: Very slight increase in funding including some preservation of last years 1%-one time funding, expansion of Q-Comp and a 'pay for performance' provision. This position also includes a significant shift in tax/aid recognition and the use of federal stimulus money.
House: Proposing flat funding. We have not yet seen the actual Bill.
Senate: Proposing a 3+% decrease in funding and staying at that lower level in the 2nd year of the biennium. Does not use tax/ aid recognition shifts. More below.
Each proposal needs to be looked at in its entirety including the other areas that government needs to support (public safety, higher ed, health & human services, etc) as well as tax policy.
THE SENATE BILL:
The Senate Bill may be the most responsible in terms of long term fiancial policy. As an example, the Senate Bill does not make tax and aid recognition shifts to make money available earlier. However it does not serve the short term needs of schools well at all.
As I am writing this, the Senate Bill has not yet passed, but overall the Bill, after even backfilling with some Federal Stimulus money, will cut school funding by just over 3%. The number we have seen so far is a cut of $273 per student. This is over all funding.... basic and catagorical. For Districts not receiving much catagorical aid, the cut is more like 5%.
On a positive side, the Senate Bill also waives the 2% professional development set aside and frees up the school safety levy for wider use of the funds. The Senate Bill also repeals a number of mandates and addresses a number of problems with Charter School Sponsors.
NEXT STEPS IN THE PROCESS:
The legislators will wind up next Tuesday and go home for a week for to their home areas. Over that week it is important that you are talking to them. I hope your messages are both about supporting our schools and also about raising a reasonable amount of money to pay for a decent system of government.
Once the legislators come back after the spring break, the negotiations between the House, Senate and Governors Office will begin in earnest. A final solution will likely be somewhere between the 3 positions.
PENSION BILL:
The Pension Bill contains a major reform for the TRA system. The Bill cleared the Pension Commission earlier this week. It will next be heard in Senate and House Committees next Monday and Tuesday.
The TRA changes include a new infusion of employee and employer contributions to help stabilize the fund which has lost huge dollars in the economic downturn of the last year. Also included is a resolution for pension benefits for those employees beginning work after 1989. This resolution is a modified form of Rule of 90 that will allow long serving TRA members to retire around age 59-60.
The controversial part of this reform is that both employees and employers would begin making 1/2% increasd contributions to the fund beginning in 2 years. The increases would be an additional 1/2% each year for 6 years. Overall, these increases would total an additional 3% for both employers and employees. These are the amounts necessary to bring the TRA fund back to stability and to resolve the problem for our post 1989 employees.
This brings us to the issue of how school districts will pay for their share of these increased costs. We are hoping that the Bill would be amended to allow Districts to make a property tax levy to cover these increased costs.
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