[Speed Gibson,
Thursday December 1, 2005 at 12:15am]
Rising taxes lift all School Districts
With few exceptions, Minnesota School Districts will have a banner year in 2006. Not only did they collectively get $800 million in new funding in the 2005 Legislative session, not only did they get most of their referendums passed, now they will be receiving another $700 million in 2006. The near bankrupt Minneapolis Teachers retirement fund may get bailed out, too.
This is remarkable given how little information is available on where those billions of dollars are going. Case in point is the Princeton schools. Tony Garcia tried to find out what the proposed $1.4 million annual levy increase would be spent on. The priorites, in order, were: replace lost busing (1 mile instead of 2), reduce fees for extra-curricular activities, rehire teaching positions lost in prior cuts, books, and building maintence. That was about as far as Tony could get in a lengthy interview with the Superintendent.
Maybe it's simply because the School Districts don't even know themselves. Peoples Republic of Minnesota notes that Hopkins suddenly found itself in statuatory debt. Meanwhile, Rosemount has cash coming out its wahzoo according to LearnedFoot.
"It's for the kids" isn't good enough anymore, if it ever was. We need clear, concise financial reporting to show us where all the extras money is going.
This is remarkable given how little information is available on where those billions of dollars are going. Case in point is the Princeton schools. Tony Garcia tried to find out what the proposed $1.4 million annual levy increase would be spent on. The priorites, in order, were: replace lost busing (1 mile instead of 2), reduce fees for extra-curricular activities, rehire teaching positions lost in prior cuts, books, and building maintence. That was about as far as Tony could get in a lengthy interview with the Superintendent.
Maybe it's simply because the School Districts don't even know themselves. Peoples Republic of Minnesota notes that Hopkins suddenly found itself in statuatory debt. Meanwhile, Rosemount has cash coming out its wahzoo according to LearnedFoot.
"It's for the kids" isn't good enough anymore, if it ever was. We need clear, concise financial reporting to show us where all the extras money is going.