State Rep. Mindy Greiling
Press Release
Minnesota House of Representatives
Contact: Charlene Briner
(651) 296-5809 charlene.briner@house.mn
381 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155
October 22, 2007
SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM WORKING GROUP MEETING RESCHEDULED
House members of a legislative panel on school finance reform have rescheduled their first meeting so that soon-to-be-named Senate appointees can join them. The first meeting of the full School Finance Reform Work Group will be held on Tuesday, October 30 at 3:00PM in Room 118 of the State Capitol. The bi-partisan panel, created by the 2007 legislature, is expected to make recommendations about possible changes to the state’s system of funding schools.
“It’s time to get down to business to define reasonable criteria for school funding that is linked to student needs, academic expectations and meaningful accountability,” said State Rep. Mindy Greiling, chair of the House K - 12 Education Finance Committee. “We can’t afford to bury our heads in the sand and pretend the problem will go away, because clearly, the ‘Minnesota Miracle’ method of funding schools that served us so well throughout the 1970’s and 80’s is not working for the 21st century.”
Due to make preliminary recommendations by January on a framework to modify the state’s school funding system, Greiling expects the initial meeting to provide historical context for Minnesota’s current school funding crisis. The panel, which will include members of the House and Senate, as well as Education Commissioner Alice Seagren, will hear from representatives of P.S. Minnesota, a coalition of rural, suburban and urban education groups who have been studying Minnesota school finance.
“Over 100 school districts across the state are asking voters to increase their property taxes this fall just to maintain basic programs and services,” said Greiling. ” For years, state education funding hasn’t kept pace with inflation or achievement expectations, and the situation has only gotten worse under Governor Pawlenty.”
Greiling continued, ” “There has got to be a better way to make sure every student - regardless of where they live - has access to the high quality education for which Minnesota has always been known. The most equitable way to do that is to increase state support to provide schools with a sustainable and predictable funding stream, so they don’t have to keep relying on an endless cycle of inequitable and unpredictable local property tax levies.”
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Please call with any questions. Thanks,
Charlene
Charlene Briner
Communications Specialist
Minnesota House of Representatives
504 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155-1298
651-296-5809
charlene.briner@house.mn
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