Education Funding

Financial Solutions

March 01, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Like their colleagues in many other states, Minnesota legislators are debating how much state money to spend on schools.

But this year, Minnesotans have a greater say in the school funding battles at the Capitol in St. Paul.

BRIC ARCHIVE

Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson and Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, both members of the state’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, asked the public to send in their own ideas to help raise money for public schools. The lawmakers made their requests through news outlets across the state and by e-mail messages to groups for school administrators, teachers, and other education professionals.

The volume of responses was much bigger than expected.

Sen. Johnson’s office received more than 1,200 responses from Minnesotans, who had plenty of ideas about raising money for schools. Those ideas ranged from the practical to the just plain kooky.

“It got a little overwhelming,” said John Kavanagh, the leadership assistant to Mr. Johnson. “It had a life of its own.”

Some highlights: One person suggested burning soybeans, a cash crop, as fuel to provide heat in public schools. Another suggested covering the outside of schools with foamy insulation out of a spray can as a way to lower energy bills.

Other ideas pertained to the ongoing political debate over school finance, and what the public schools might look like in the future. Some angry responses argued that schools are not receiving adequate funding and that teacher salaries are too low. Others said that pay for teachers—and especially for school administrators—seemed high. Yet another endorsed imposing a co-payment or user’s fee on parents with children in school.

A few argued for school district mergers as a way to save money, while others said preserving community schools and smaller campuses would be best.

After local news reports about the level of response to the legislators’ request, Sen. Johnson’s office received another 200 ideas, Mr. Kavanagh said.

When some people read about the idea of installing McDonald’s restaurants or other fast-food eateries on campuses as a way of raising money, others wrote to the senator to protest the idea and demanded that students have healthy places to eat.

Mr. Kavanagh said lawmakers may consider some of the ideas. Well, maybe not the spray-on insulation.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the March 02, 2005 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Do K-12 Students Have a Right to Well-Funded School Buildings?
The answer in a recent state court case wasn't exactly a "yes." But it also wasn't a "no." Here's what could happen next.
5 min read
Image of an excavator in front of a school building.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Explainer 3 Steps to Keep Tutoring Going When ESSER Money Runs Out
Schools may lose more than $1,200 per student as enrollment falls and federal COVID relief funds expire next year.
4 min read
Illustration of a dollar sign falling over a cliff.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Education Funding Opinion Foundations Have Given Money to Schools for a Long Time. What's Actually Working?
Investments in one key area seem to be making a difference when it comes to improving schools.
14 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Opinion Education Funders Need to Ditch the Savior Complex
Trust in the input from teachers, staff, community, and students will go a long way toward making initiatives successful.
12 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty