Letter to MDE

In our continuing efforts to make change at the state level, this letter was sent to MDE Commissioner Brenda Cassellius last week. I think the gas station analogy puts the plight of NBAPS and its residents in perspective:

Dear Commissioner Cassellius,

I write to you this day on behalf of North Branch Area Public Schools and the communities it serves, to share with you the results of our recent operating levy proposal and express our dissatisfaction with the current funding formula. It is my deepest hope that, in doing so, we can cease to be the example of what is wrong with K-12 funding, and instead inspire a solution.

North Branch Area Public Schools enrolls 3,143 students K-12 in the Chisago/Isanti County area. Our most recent levy attempt failed this November, and marks the eighth consecutive such failure since 1998. We were recently referred to in the Star Tribune as the “unluckiest” school district in the state. Our budget woes have been featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and on CNN.

Our inability to pass an operating levy is a primary reason we are one of the lowest-funded school districts in the state. The state funding formula, and specifically an equalization factor that has remained unchanged in almost 20 years, is a primary reason we are unable to pass a levy.

In 1994, when the equalization factor was put in place, it was designed to give school districts across the state an equal playing field with the wealthiest districts. It allowed for property poor districts to receive equalization aid on a sliding scale if the school district had a market value per pupil unit below $476,000. According to MDE, records indicate that in 1997, two school districts out of 358 were above that figure and the average market value per pupil unit was $175,000.

Over the succeeding years, property values skyrocketed and the average market value per pupil unit is projected to be $469,000 in 2013. Increasing property values however, do not equate to an increase in wealth. It does equate to an increase in taxes though, and Chisago County - which makes up the bulk of our school district - has one of the highest median property tax rates not just in the state, but the entire nation.

While property values and tax burdens have steadily increased, the state’s equalization factor has remained unchanged since its inception and no longer reflects a figure designed to keep property poor districts on a level playing field with property wealthy districts. In 2013, 69 school districts will have a market value per pupil above $476,000. And though the majority of districts still remain under that figure, the average dictates that less fortunate school districts qualify for less state aid than ever before, making the challenge of offering students the same advantages as wealthy districts all but impossible.

Here are some examples of the drastic differences in operating levy tax impact, based on the maximum levy amount of $1,605 per pupil:

• North Branch Area Public Schools: $407 per $100,000 of property value
• Orono Public Schools: $125 per $100,000 of property value
• Westonka: $143 per $100,000 of property value
• Wayzata: $188 per $100,000 of property value

Even our closest competitors to the south realize an advantage when trying to provide for students:

• Chisago Area Public Schools: $358 per $100,000 of property value
• Forest Lake: $312 per $100,000 of property value

Imagine if you will that school funding is like buying gas. When North Branch pulls into the station, it is instructed to use pumps at which the price of gas is $4.07 a gallon. When Orono pulls into the same station for the same gas, it is allowed to pay $1.25 a gallon. Any fair-minded person would agree that the situation as it stands is inherently unfair for school districts and, far more importantly, students. The result for a school district like North Branch Area Public Schools has been nothing short of devastating.

The same holds true for other equalization factors, most notably debt equalization. Increases in property values have pushed more districts “off the formula” with a larger share of debt service shifting to local property taxes, further increasing the local burden. This magnifies the difficulties North Branch Area Public Schools faces in asking voters to approve operating levies.

Since 2003-04 we have cut $14 million in staff and programs with millions more expected each year into the foreseeable future. Fees to parents have been increased, supply lists have grown, class sizes have increased, leadership and oversight decimated, buildings closed, the school week reduced, extracurricular activities slashed, and programs eliminated. In the last four years we have cut 89 full-time equivalent positions, and despite declines in enrollment we have fewer staff serving more students than ever before. Those job losses have also contributed to an overall decline in the local economy.

The constant drumbeat of lost opportunities has accelerated enrollment declines - further exacerbating our funding issues, and a funding system so complex only very few understand has frustrated our public to the point of causing an almost complete breakdown in the relationship between school district and community.

The situation here can only be described as toxic, and at the root of that toxicity lies inequitable funding.

Despite our great and numerous challenges, NBAPS has done remarkably well at continuing to provide a competitive education. However, that cannot continue into the future without significant change to the way schools are funded in the near future.

Each year we have to look our residents in the eye and tell them that circumstances are such that their children’s educations remain under-funded. We tell them that the situation cannot continue much longer, the state must correct the problem. We have been saying that now since 2003-04. It has been almost a decade of waiting and watching an entire generation of students and families stuck between a rock and a hard place; hoping for change.

We appreciate so much what you do for the children of the state. It is our sincerest hope that we can work together in these challenging times to create an equitable funding structure that acknowledges all kids deserve the same opportunity for a high quality public education.

Sincerely,

Deb Henton, Ed. D.

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Tough questions for candidates

Patsy Green, Robbinsdale school board member, has a great editorial in the Star Tribune explaining why so many districts have sought, or are seeking, operating levies. She also has some tough questions that should be asked of candidates seeking state office:

•Why did Minnesota's per-pupil spending fall from 8 percent above the national average in 1997 to 1.3 percent below the national average in 2007?

•Why does Minnesota fail to fund its special-education formula, causing our school districts to spend more than $500 million in funding meant for regular instruction on special-education programs?

•With a critical need to close the achievement gap, why have our state policymakers not restored the funding cuts to summer-school and after-school programming that were made in 2003?

•Why do more than 90 percent of the school districts in Minnesota have to rely on voter-approved operating referendums to provide basic programs for their students?

I hope you will read it all.

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Should be fun

I will be participating in an online debate forum today at noon. Hosted by MPR, the four-day week will be the subject of the debate, and the other panel member will be Perham-Dent Superintendent Tamara Uselman. Participation is welcome so join the fun!

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NBAPS as a business

We have compiled a document entitled "NBAPS as a Business," which gives an overview of the size and scope of district operations. It also shows what the district receives and spends in specific areas relative to the state averages. I hope it will answer many questions people have about the district.

You can review this two-page, easy to read summary by clicking here.

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My open letter to Governor Pawlenty

The following was sent to the governor and copied to legislators, media, and heads of professional organizations on April 5:

Dear Governor Pawlenty:

North Branch Area Public Schools (NBAPS) is deeply grateful to you for your dedication to protecting education funding as the state has struggled with deficits. NBAPS staff, students, and community know a thing or two about deficits, and that is why I write to you today.

Since 2003-04, NBAPS has cut over $11 million from operating budgets. As each annual cut approaches, the decisions get more and more difficult, and the community more and more frustrated with valuable things lost. After almost a decade of painful cuts, valuable programs, gifted staff, and countless opportunities have been replaced by extremely high class sizes, increased fees, a shortened school week, and a community that doesn't understand why its children are worth less than those of almost every other district in the state.

Our taxpayers support education but, due to a lack of commercial tax base in Chisago County, bear the lion's share of the tax burden as residential home owners. Given the opportunity to say "no" to an operating levy and higher taxes, our community has done so six times in the last decade. We understand that decision; levies here cost taxpayers two, three times, or more what they would cost in another district, largely due to the erosion of the equalization formulas.

We are proud of what we have accomplished. The state asked districts to make do with less and we have come through each and every year. We may be one of the lowest funded districts in the state, but I would put the quality of the education here against any district in the state.

Our staff has embraced Q-Comp and ours is considered by MDE to be among the finest Q-Comp plans in the state. North Branch Area Middle School has twice (2007, 2010) been recognized with a Spotlight Award from the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation. On both occasions, it was the only middle school in the state to be so recognized.

We have also found creative ways to be fiscally responsible. The school board recently approved the closure of a building, the district has joined a cooperative for special education services, shares an employee with another district, and has embraced the idea of shared services for years.

However, the district and community can no longer sustain these cuts, and the frustration and mistrust they cause. While other districts in the state are passing levies to add opportunity, our teachers accepted a hard wage freeze for this year, as have I, and other employees will be expected to do the same. We are implementing a four-day week to save $175,000 a year. We have cut energy costs by over $100,000.

As a former civics teacher, I know that often-times answers to the problems we face lie in our state and federal constitutions. In Minnesota, the importance of education was understood very well by our forefathers, who articulated that importance in this passage of our state constitution: "...it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state."

Governor, there is little that is uniform about our public school system at this time. The current funding formula has created a vast gap between the haves and the have nots. Until this gap is addressed, the state is not living up to the promise our forefathers made its citizens, a promise important enough to include as part of the very fabric of the state.

NBAPS is looking at another $1.2 million in cuts for 2011-12, and has projected deficits well into the future. Though we realize the state has financial challenges of its own, it should not stop our esteemed leaders from finding a way to live up to the state's constitutional duty to all students in Minnesota. Please solve the funding inequities in public education. Please repair the equalization formula. There are 3,500 students at NBAPS and the quality of their education is at stake. They will never get a second chance.

I hope you will strongly consider visiting NBAPS in the near future. We would very much like the honor of showing you how far we have been able to stretch every taxpayer dollar. More importantly, we would like you to see first-hand that we, as a district and a community, are out of options.

We need action now to ensure a generation of our children can contribute to a brighter tomorrow for the state of Minnesota. Please don't hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience to arrange a visit.

Respectfully yours,

Deb Henton, Ed.D.
Superintendent

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Budget bites

Here's a neat website if you want to stay current on state budget issues: MinnesotaBudgetBites.org.

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Answers lie at the state level

Minnesota 2020's John Fitzgerald has an incredible article everyone in North Branch Area Public Schools needs to read. Here's an excerpt:

North Branch is considering conversion to a four-day week next year. Can other financially troubled districts like Robbinsdale, Brooklyn Center or Minneapolis be far behind?

The problem is simple. Minnesota has cut aid to schools by an inflation-adjusted 14 percent since 2003. None of the state's school districts can survive with that kind of a cut to their revenue unless they have very wealthy property owners who are willing to raise taxes to make up for the state's inadequate funding. Understandably, the number of those wealthy districts is few.

North Branch is not one of those wealthy districts.

Please, if you care about education at NBAPS, read it all.

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School finance 101 and the four-day week

North Branch Area Public Schools is hosting two important meetings on Thursday, Feb. 18. At 6 p.m., in the Sunrise River School cafeteria, all are welcome to attend "School Finance 101," hosted by Schools for Equity in Education's Deb Griffiths. Just in time for budget season, learn how schools are funded and the challenges faced by NBAPS.

Immediately following that one-hour presentation, the district will host the first of three informational meetings on the four-day school week (7 - 8:30 p.m. SRS cafeteria). Early estimates suggest the district could save a minimum of $125,000 annually by implementing such a schedule. Please go to the four-day school week information page to learn more.

Two other public meetings will follow:

Feb. 22: School board room (204), Main Street School, 7 - 8:30 a.m.
Feb. 23: High school auditorium, 5 - 6:30 p.m.

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NBAPS has important announcement

North Branch Area Public Schools made a very important announcement today. You can read it here.

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SEE the solution

Schools for Equity in Education has released its 2010 legislative platform, which you can read here.

Among other things, it calls for a new funding system, greater taxpayer fairness, reductions in funding disparity, and the elimination of reliance on the operating levy.

As you know, NBAPS has become the poster child for problems with the current state funding system. I encourage each and every one of you to call your representatives and encourage them to work toward changing the system that has been so damaging to our district and community.

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SEE Notes

Brad Lundell, of Schools for Equity in Education, is doing some great reporting on happenings at the state level. Check out his blog, "SEE Notes." It is a good way to keep up with what is happening with state government and education.

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The root cause

There is an excellent editorial in the Fergus Falls journal today, on the tragic school funding inequities:

Several years ago, the Legislature transferred the largest burden of public school funding from local governments, paid through property taxes, to the state government, financed by income and sales taxes, on a per-pupil basis. The idea was to level the playing field among public schools. The quality of a public school district, the theory held, should not be determined by the value of properties within it.

However, in making the change, the new funding system left a loophole: allowing school districts to conduct levy referenda to obtain additional funding through property taxes. Combined with shrinking state funding, it has widened the gap between the haves and have-nots.

Several years later, we have the exact opposite of what was intended. The state has increasingly relied on local levies to do what it promised to do: adequately fund school districts.

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Levies are now for the basics

The Mankato Free Press has an editorial on the subject of operating levies today. Here's a brief excerpt:

Like it or not, districts rely upon their communities to keep their schools running. Not only is that a burden on local taxpayers, but when the Edinas can pass levies and the New Ulms can’t, students aren’t being fairly treated across the state.

In North Branch, we have long been sounding the warning about the inequities in the funding formula. In fact, it was the subject of my very first post here at "Supe." If you prefer to listen, here is the podcast of my speech at the Schools for Equity in Education legislative kick-off:



The system we currently have in place gives wealthy districts a distinct advantage in educating children. I don't believe that is what state forefathers had in mind when they included this very specific language in the State Constitution:

UNIFORM SYSTEM OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.

Finding a way through this challenge may be as simple as following the Constitution.

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Not cut, but burdened

Politics in Minnesota has a nice summary of how Governor Tim Pawlenty's cost shifts will affect public schools:

If, as expected, Pawlenty seeks to duplicate the size of the nearly $1.8 billion shift proposed by the House this session, he’ll have to delay payment of at least 27 percent, and perhaps as much as 36 percent, of the school aid money. The reason for the uncertainty and the gaping 9 percent disparity is because it is not clear whether the governor has the authority under to also shift property tax revenues that go to school districts, as the Legislature has done when utilizing the larger aid shifts in recent decades.

What will the delay mean for public education? Borrowing. And borrowing means interest payments. Charlie Kyte explains:

Kyte says the interest charges will amount to $30 per pupil per school year, which, in addition to all the staff time spent securing and monitoring the loans instead of educating children, is the equivalent of 500 first-year teacher salaries statewide each year.

So, while public education ostensibly escaped the chopping block as part of the state budget, it really didn't. More public education resources will have to be directed at paying interest, and not at educating kids, in the future.

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Penny wise, pound foolish

An editorial in the New Ulm Journal is highly critical of the Senate's proposal to cut school budgets statewide:

Shortchanging education is a "penny-wise, pound-foolish" approach to state budgeting. It is going to push the cost of education down to the property tax payers, at least in those districts that will be able to convince voters to pass tax referendums. That is no sure bet in this uncertain economy.

The Senate's proposal has been widely reported as a three percent cut, but that is an average. In North Branch, which does not have an operating levy in place, the total would be between four and five percent total.

We are proud that our senator, Rick Olseen, voted against this potentially catastrophic cut to not only our budget, but the very heart of our mission to educate kids. Make no mistake, if the Senate gets its way, the affect on North Branch Area Public Schools will be felt deeply.

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Thinking creatively at the Capitol

Lori Sturdevant has an interesting column today, covering some of the education reform efforts happening at the legislature. I would be interested in hearing any thoughts you might have on this topic.

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Governor Pawlenty is committed

Governor Pawlenty released his revised budget proposal yesterday and I was thrilled that he maintains his commitment to avoiding cuts to K-12 education:

Pawlenty's updated budget would spend $424 million of federal stimulus money on schools -- mostly on merit pay and student achievement. That would result in a $27 million increase from his January budget, which itself included a $156 million bump.

We have a long way to go before we know anything for sure. Before this is over, the legislature and the governor will have to reach consensus and they are far from that now. Nevertheless, the governor's strong desire to protect education from expected budget cuts is good news for North Branch.

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Bad news from the Senate

The Star Tribune is reporting today on the Senate budget proposal, which would call for $1 billion in cuts to education over the next two years:

Senate leaders acknowledged that the $973 million in proposed K-12 education cuts over a two-year period would be difficult but said education represented too large a share of the overall state budget to be exempted.

A cut of this magnitude would be absolutely devastating to a district like North Branch, which has made over $10 million in budget adjustments since 2003, and is facing another $1.5 million in reductions to balance next year's budget.

The House will introduce its budget proposal next week, and I hope it looks better for education than the Senate's. In the meantime, please continue to contact your legislator and let them know how important education funding is; not only for the present, but for our future.

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Good and bad news regarding the state deficit

The Star Tribune is reporting good news and bad news. The good news:

The state's projected budget deficit for fiscal 2010-11 is $4.57 billion, a figure that would be higher if not tempered by a $1.3 billion infusion of federal cash.

The bad news:

little seems to slow the global economic crisis that has Minnesota in its grip and is projected to cost it another 70,000 jobs in the coming year. Before it's over, Minnesota's job losses could reach 120,000 -- equal to three years' worth of typical job growth -- according to the state's national forecaster, Global Insight Inc.

We continue to await decisions that will affect us and hope for the best.

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Could we face cuts?

Senate DFL leaders are signaling that K-12 education must be subject to cuts, not the slight increases proposed by Gov. Pawlenty:

Pogemiller said putting off the hard budget decisions now would prevent the state from having the money to make strategic investments in such areas as early childhood education when the economy recovers.

To cut spending by $4.85 billion would require a 13.7 percent across-the-board budget reduction, Pogemiller said. That would slash $1.9 billion from K-12 education.

Nobody is going to do that, he said. "But you cannot put 40 percent of the budget offline. Everybody's going to have to tighten their belts and share the sacrifice ... including education."

Here's some thoughts on this latest news:

Pogemiller indicated education needs to be included in cuts because we are 40% of the state's budget but he does not appear to be recommending any cuts be proportional so that is certainly a good thing. What remains to be seen is how much of a cut we can expect, and we can do little but wait and see how this all plays out.

However, I can say that any cuts combined with expected increases in fuel costs, health insurance, declining enrollment, and no operating levy will have a devastating effect on our schools. Large class size will get even larger and struggling students will not get badly needed support.

Lawmakers do need to look at all aspects of the budget. I expect them to take their time, examine the upcoming forecast, gather input, and look to the federal government for support before taking action. We need a thorough examination of all options before deciding to cut education, which is already bare bones in North Branch.

Something for the legislature to keep in mind as they ponder these tough choices: Kids can't redo their education. The decisions made during this budget session will have a life-long and irreversible impact on large numbers of students.
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