Dear Neighbor,
The legislature faces a May 19 deadline to pass a new two-year state budget and adjourn. While bipartisan agreements have been reached on omnibus finance bills covering several areas of the budget, K-12 education remains a major sticking point.
Unfortunately, we're still at a standstill, locked in opposite corners on how to address the dire situation Democrats created when they had total control of the Capitol over the past two years.
In 2023, Minnesota had an $18 billion surplus. Democrats spent every penny, directing over a billion dollars to nonprofits which operate beyond the oversight of elected officials. We’ve seen story after story about nonprofits misusing taxpayer dollars, with questionable and sometimes fraudulent activity, all happening with virtually no scrutiny.
At the same time, school districts have been treated as if they can't be trusted to manage their own affairs or put students first. They've been micromanaged, second-guessed, and burdened with red tape.
That mindset is now baked into the Democrats’ current K-12 education proposal. They refuse to roll back the more than 65 new mandates they forced on schools last year. On top of that, they're proposing cuts to funding for charter and non-public schools, redirecting those dollars to the Department of Education so it can apply even more micromanagement to your local public schools.
Republicans are offering a different approach. Our proposal cuts funding to unaccountable nonprofits and instead sends that money directly to school districts in the form of flexible, local aid that allows administrators to meet the unique needs of their students and communities. We can’t afford to shower our education system with more money, especially with a $6 billion shortfall on the state’s horizon. But we can free up existing funds and let schools prioritize based on what works best locally.
It comes down to this: Republicans want to cut mandates to fund schools. Democrats want to cut schools to keep their mandates.
Why? Because Democrats don’t trust you to run your own schools. They’re beholden to the Department of Education and Education Minnesota, two groups that continue to ignore feedback from teachers, principals, superintendents, and parents. Instead, they're playing political games that grow their own influence while our education system struggles.
We’ve already seen the damage. Half of Minnesota’s students can’t read or do math at grade level. Our teachers are overwhelmed. Just this week in the Education Finance Committee, we heard a good proposal to have high-income families pay for their own school lunches and use that money to shore up teacher pensions. But Education Minnesota, the Department of Education, and House Democrats all said “no.” Apparently, Education Minnesota is telling concerned teachers that Republicans are trying to pit them against the union. In reality, we’re responding to a union that abandoned teachers long ago. We saw that clearly last term, when the Democrats funded everything but the classroom, while imposing more mandates on educators and principals.
The contrast between what I hear directly from people working with kids and what I hear from the Department of Education in committee could not be more stark. That disconnect is reflected in these two radically different K-12 proposals.
This issue is so fundamental that it could lead to a budget showdown. The choice is clear: will we continue prioritizing the political interests of the Democratic party, or will we stand up for our schools, support our educators, and do what’s best for our children?
I’m proud to stand with the vast majority of Minnesotans who want real support for local schools and real outcomes for our students. It’s time to put kids before politics.
Sincerely,
Walter