Conservatives Hurt School Budgets

By Michael Diedrich, Policy Associate, December 5, 2011 at 8:30 am

During the summer showdown over Minnesota's budget, conservative recalcitrance on fairer taxes forced a budget compromise that delays state payments to local schools. Districts left holding the bill have turned to increased borrowing, according to a survey conducted by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.

While the Star-Tribune quoted conservative representative Pat Garofalo (last seen encouraging your community to vote down local school levies) blaming Governor Dayton, his final quoted comment was telling: “The next time, we cut spending.”

This is what conservatives have reduced our state government to. Claiming “fiscal responsibility,” they have demanded the state cut and delay its support to local communities. While they grudgingly agreed to a $50 per pupil pity increase, that won't get anywhere close to addressing the budget holes created by an anti-spending campaign that has reduced state support for schools by 13% since 2003.

True fiscal responsibility doesn't mean passing the buck to Minnesota's towns and cities. It doesn't mean a commitment to cutting spending next time. It doesn't mean blaming someone else for your own refusal to be reasonable.

What would be fiscally responsible would be tax reform that creates a more progressive structure for Minnesotans (one, for example, where the richest 1% pay at least the same effective state rate as middle-class workers). What would be fiscally responsible is looking at the state's current commitments to its local communities and finding ways to honor those commitments. What would be fiscally responsible would be rejecting measures that force school districts to run deficits.

Something tells me Representative Garofalo wouldn't be on board with actual fiscal responsibility. In fact, he's already said as much! There is nothing responsible about a pledge to always cut spending and never raise taxes. It takes options off the table, and it leads to more pain for Minnesota's communities. Our voices must be heard demanding true fiscal responsibility, not irresponsible conservative dogma.

Posted in Education | Related Topics: K-12 education  Education Funding