Legislative Session: Let’s Unite

Dear Jane and Matt,

The ultrasound pictures you sent us today, showing the miracle of our first grandchild, fills me with joy. I am agonized more than ever by the distance between us! Florida seems far away. I know you would really like to move back to Minnesota, where you both grew up.

You know I long for you to be here, but I wonder if I can encourage you to return to a state that is rushing toward average. We lived in Florida once, and while it was nice not to pay income taxes we soon realized that you got what you paid for. As you know, Jane, we enrolled you and your brother in a private school, something I thought would never happen in our family.

If our granddaughter went to school in Northfield, you could count on the public being supportive of you and wanting to make education a priority. In return for proving we had done everything possible to trim budgets, and for increasing transparency and accountability, the community here passed a levy referendum in 2006 that allowed us on the school board at least to maintain programs. I’d like her to be able to go to a school that has, in addition to the basics, an orchestra, arts programming, Advanced Placement and physical education. Other towns in Minnesota are cutting those things because they cannot pass levies.

Can Minnesotans rebuild a consensus around equity for our citizens, or will we continue to slide into competition, where some citizens (like those in Northfield who do come together in support) have more…. more educational opportunity, better infrastructure, a better standard of living?

Before you two were born, a consensus emerged about funding education. The 1971 “Minnesota Miracle” came from that consensus among the Governor, the Legislature, and the people. This guaranteed each and every student in Minnesota the same basic education funding, distributed by the state.

What came from that agreement is pretty amazing:

* Minnesota’s income followed the investment in education. Our per capita income dramatically increased until 2000, after which it has fallen in comparison with other states.

* Minnesota’s economy thrived. Our compound annual growth rate during the 1990s, compared to the national average, was nearly an entire percentage point above what it is now. Minnesota employment rates and employment growth are now declining.

* Minnesotans with high school diplomas and college degrees increased dramatically, and that brought industry and research capital into the state. But by the time my granddaughter is in middle school, at the current rate of regression, the rates for the majority of students will have reverted back to national averages, while our minority population will be less educated than the rest of the nation!

* Minnesota’s per pupil funding in 1970 was sixth in the nation. And do you know what? In 2007 we were twenty-third! In one particularly alarming statistic, out of the 38 states that provide some preschool funding, Minnesota ranks #37. Fully half of Minnesota kids are deemed not ready for kindergarten.

Building the consensus to reform school funding in a time of budget crisis seems impossible, right? I mean, it seems counterintuitive to argue that our public schools deserve a bump up in 2009, while we’re in recession. But I believe this is exactly the time to rebuild the consensus. When I was a child, after all the ugliness of World War II, our country funded the Marshall Plan, which in no small degree stabilized Europe. It’s time for a Minnesota Marshall Plan, a new Minnesota Miracle. There are brave folks in the Legislature who have authored a bill (Mindy Greiling taking the lead) that would allow this to happen. They’ve done the research and know what works for schools, so it wouldn’t be like just increasing the money supply without accountability.

Recently, Minnesota has pushed funding down to local responsibility, even while increasing state and federal accountability measures. I will argue that such a local control has wasted a ton of local district resources, produced confusion and increased inequality. Minnesota invests less now in state and local government than under Governor Carlson.

I’d dearly love to see you all come back to live in the Midwest…. but the truth is perhaps North Dakota would be a better choice, unless we can create a new public awareness that all of the kids here belong to everybody and they all deserve to be given the best.

Love you both!

Diane Cirksena has been a Northfield School Board member since 2004. This letter is addressed to her daughter Jane, a graduate of the College of St. Benedict and the University of Minnesota Law School.

Why I’m Running Again

After four years on the Northfield board, and having achieved more than retirement age, I was fairly sure I would not run again.  But the more I thought about it the more I realized that, if the voters allow me to serve again, I can contribute to the stability of the district.  I don’t have single issues that drive me, and I pretty much do my homework in a timely way.

So what is my platform?

AT THE LOCAL LEVEL:

1.  We must continue to carefully review budgets so that a recommended reserve is obtained and maintained.  We do not want to go back to the “Statutory Operating Debt” status of two years ago, which was the result of educational funding being frozen at the state level AND irresponsible spending of a previous administration.  Superintendent Chris Richardson demonstrated great leadership in facing the financial problems of the district and managing an open public process in making cuts.

2.  Continue to support/stabilize building leadership.  All principals now support data driven decision making and personal learning communities (study teams as the basis for staff development).  With no turnover in administrators this year the personal learning communities should be even more prepared to review the data on student performance in their buildings in order to improve student achievement.

3.  We must address more precisely (through the things itemized in #2) the student achievement lags in our special education and limited English proficient student body.  Being on the Adequate Yearly Progress watchlist is not pleasant, but does provide us with more incentive to target achievement in these populations.  And we must celebrate how well our entire student body performs.

AT THE STATE LEVEL:

1.  Pressure our state representatives and senators to demand that school funding be reformed along the lines of the original 1971 “Minnesota Miracle.”  That was created following a court case (Van Dusarte v. Hatfield) which ruled that, “The level of spending for a child’s education may not be a function of wealth other than the wealth of the state as a whole.”  That worthy effort has been eroded by budget freezes, the continued “No New Taxes” pledge of the Governor, and a lack of willingness to revise the calculation formula for property tax equalization.

*  They should expect (nay, demand!) that the ‘04 funding taskforce be reconvened and its work completed with specific recommendations.

*  They should demand equalization in that funding formula.  All students should receive equal opportunities.

*  They should demand that funding be targetted towards meeting local, state and federal standards.

Cows, Colleges, Contentment… and Consternation

I’ve been pondering for weeks about our fair city, and have decided that our new city motto must be “Cows, Colleges, Contentment…. and Consternation.”  But that same consternation does not apply to the Northfield Schools, where I think things are humming along quite smoothly.  No, we don’t have 250 high school kids on heroin.

Consternation about city government, frankly, and maybe about the news media.   Who was doing what to whom is far from clear, but we have a police chief on medical leave, a city administrator who is being investigated, and a town newspaper that is less than helpful in presenting the information.

I’ve decided that all the stuff happening at the city just has to be ignored in the short term. It will work itself out, somebody or somebodies will resign or get indicted, and eventually we will elect a council that takes some action to do something to someone.

In the meantime, let’s also say that Northfield Schools is pretty much doing what it needs to do:

1. We’re all in agreement that if there is even ONE school kid taking heroin it is too many. While there are certainly not 250, as the first reports appeared to indicate, there are a handful of high school students who need further support.

2. We are in agreement that we will use drug-sniffing dogs in ways that are appropriate. Dogs can be used to scope out potential problems with certain kids. They will not be used to intimidate or as a scare tactic. But use them we will sometime.  As I write this post I am aware that baseline data has been collected about the high school, collected using drug sniffing dogs used last evening.

3. We are in agreement that our drug awareness curriculum needs to be reviewed and updated. If kids say it doesn’t do the job, we need to listen.

4. We are in agreement that all school property should be managed in such a way as to discourage drug activities. Wetlands, marshes, and parks must be watched over, burned over when necessary, and neighborhood watches established.

5.  We agree that we can never sit back and assume we are “above average” in this area of drug use.  Parents need to be vigilant, neighborhoods must cooperate, and schools must establish an environment where every kid is known and cared for.

That is my commitment as a leader in this district.  I am sure it is also yours.

What Really Happened to Promote Special Education Funding?

Now that the Minnesota Legislature is adjourned and the Governor has signed the final education bill, it’s time to reflect on what really happened (in the Minnesota Senate) to insure special education funding was addressed. In this blog and elsewhere I have been urging our elected officials to address the problem. While the House had other worthy provisions in their version of an education bill, the Senate came out strong with a proposal to address the special education funding problem.

The credit starts with a White Bear Lake school board member, Sandy Rummel. Now a new (elected 2006) State Senator, Sandy believed that the best way to help schools across the state, and to help those who were hurting most, was to remove the cap on the special ed growth factor.

When the fiscal analyst for education ran the numbers, a map of the state showed virtually every district needed between $250 per pupil to $500 per pupil in order to free up their general funds for regular education. In other words, in 2003 the state “capped” the growth factor to help balance the budget. In 2005 that meant school districts picked up the state’s $61 million unpaid bill; by 2007 that unpaid bill was $132 million and by 2011 it would have grown to $353 million. If the cap would not have been removed most districts would be bankrupt in a short time. Money on the formula was simply going in one door and out the other.

This information then went to Larry Pogemiller, who signed on. Sandy Rummel carried the bill. I’d like to thank her and other Senate leaders who made this happen. Sandy made a big difference in this legislative session with true leadership.

Special Education Funding Now!!

Let’s be clear about the issues:

* When Northfield Schools established budgets for this year (2006-07) we made reasnable projections for all line items. We did pretty well except for special education costs. New enrollments over the summer shattered our assumptions. (For example, at the high school alone 10 more students with IEPs were registered, some with severe needs.) We must and want to serve these students, but the additional costs are crushing. Special education costs in Northfield this year are 9.4% above projections of our budgets.

* For every dollar spent on special education in Northfield, we only receive PART reimbursement. This reflects continuing reductions in dollars from state and federal sources. The formulas are very complicated, but let’s give an example. When we hire a new special education teacher, as we have had to do this year, and total compensation for that teacher is $54,000.  We can expect to recover less than half that amount from special education funds that flow through from the State. (Contact me for more detail on this if you really want to have more detail!!)  Since the passage of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, the federal government has promised to provide 40% of the excess costs of special education.  That promise has never been fulfilled.  This current year federal funds will account for approximately 17.5% of the excess costs.  So let’s agree that a major part of the problem is the broken promise from Washington.
* And here is the kicker: For all the money spent on special education (a 10% increase per year) the reimbursements come TWO YEARS later! This is an unacceptable lag time

LEGISLATORS:

1. Address the lag time. Reimburse real time expenditures. Stop the two year lag in reimbursement!!

2. Reimburse ALL the extra costs of special education, not just part.  Even the part that was promised would be better than what we have now.

Addressing special education costs is far more important than looking at some kind of reimbursement scheme pegged to the MDA Report Care Start Ratings. The Star Ratings are a broad indicator of success, but are subject to many statistical aberrations. So start talking about special education costs and don’t pass go without doing something about this. The Northfield School Board has been diligent about cutting every possible line item and is ready to come out of Statutory Operating Debt, but special education funding issues make this a very precarious and tenuous victory.