Rep Falk a Committment to Education

April 22, 2010

AN ENDURING COMMITMENT TO MINNESOTA STUDENTS

Minnesota’s nation-leading education system wasn’t built overnight.
It took decades of strategic investment, smart policy innovations, and a
long-term commitment to academic excellence. Despite wars, depression,
and severe fiscal state crises, our parents and grandparents put
students first, giving you and me the highest-quality education.

Even in times of scarce resources, it is crucial that we continue our
commitment to Minnesota’s world-class education system. Facing a $994
million state budget deficit this year, we need to maintain the
state’s fiscal commitment to students, and continue enacting policy
reforms to make our schools even better.

Nearly $313 million in cuts have been made already this session to 10
specific budget areas, resolving one-third of the state’s deficit. But
Health and Human Service (HHS) programs and K-12 school budgets so far
remain untouched - waiting on additional information regarding how much
federal aid Minnesota will receive in the weeks ahead.

Right now it is unclear when or if Congress will pass a federal jobs
bill - a bill promising to deliver $408 million to our state. One thing
is certain though: the House, Senate, and Governor Pawlenty have made
the commitment not to cut crucial funding from Minnesota classrooms -
because our students only get one shot at a good education.

Still, K-12 schools continue to deal with the real financial struggles
of severe under-funding over the last decade. Under Governor
Pawlenty’s leadership, school funding was cut for the first time in
our state’s history. And for the last eight years under his
administration, education funding has remained flat while the cost of
delivering a modern, high-quality education for our students continues
to rise.

When the state faced a record $6.4 billion budget deficit last year,
the Governor used our schools like a bank. In an unprecedented move, he
unilaterally delayed $1.7 billion in state aid payments to public school
districts - using that money to balance the budget. That forced school
districts to take out loans to pay the bills, loans with interest; loans
this Governor has no intention of paying back.

A high-quality education is one of Minnesota’s strongest economic
assets. When we invest in our students, we are investing in
Minnesota’s future. That’s why I’m standing firm with students,
teachers, and parents to protect our schools from the threat of any
budget cuts, and working hard to make Minnesota classrooms an even
better place to learn.

More than that, I am working with my colleagues to enact policy reforms
that will more effectively manage our state’s 2.5 million acres of
school trust lands - an effort that will put more dollars in Minnesota
classrooms. Lax oversight, and too little attention to responsible land
management, has provided our students with only a fraction of what they
deserve to receive from this invaluable resource.

That’s why legislation was passed in 2008 to improve oversight of the
Permanent School Trust Fund - an effort that resulted in an additional
$33 per pupil. We are continuing those efforts this session to eliminate
unnecessary bureaucratic waste, and produce additional new funding for
Minnesota schools.

With just four weeks remaining before the Legislature adjourns on May
17th, I strongly encourage you to contact me with your questions,
concerns, and suggestions. Your input helps me represent you better.

Working together, we can continue Minnesota’s long-held commitment to
high-quality schools, and do the work necessary to make Minnesota an
even better place to live. As always, I look forward to hearing from
you.

Andrew Falk
State Representative
District 20A
(651) 296-4288
rep.andrew.falk@house.mn