Rep. Youakim Statement on Minnesota Department of Education’s Announcement of Per-Pupil Formula Increase
St. Paul, MN – In the 2023-2024 biennium, DFLers delivered an education budget that updates Minnesota’s general education formula to be indexed to inflation. On Friday, February 28 the Minnesota Department of Education shared with Minnesota school districts, due to indexing, the new increase to the per-pupil formula allowance taking effect for the 2025-2026 school year will be a 2.74% increase.
This change will translate to $200 more per pupil, bringing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 formula allowance to $7,481 per adjusted pupil unit (APU). In previous years, Minnesota schools have needed to wait until the legislature passes the biennial budget to know whether or not the education funding formula would be increased.
DFLers provided a 4% per-pupil increase in the general education formula in FY2024 and a 2% increase in FY2025 for an investment totaling $710 million over the biennium. The overall Education Finance budget provided increases of $2.2 billion in FYs 2024-2025 and $3.2 billion in FYs 2026-2027.
Representative Cheryl Youakim (DFL- Hopkins), DFL Lead on the House Education Finance Committee, cheered the work Democrats delivered for Minnesota students.
"Indexing the formula to inflation will provide our districts the stability they need when planning their budgets,” said Rep. Youakim. “While the past 20 years of underfunding can't be undone overnight, every step forward, every increased investment, is a positive development for Minnesota kids, families, and our shared success as a state.”
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