Add another billion for Minnesota schools, group says

A think tank thinks it's time to ask Minnesota taxpayers for a giant increase in education funding, because the payoff is huge.

By NORMAN DRAPER, Star Tribune

Last update: November 20, 2008 - 5:47 AM

Minnesota think tank Growth & Justice wants Minnesotans to pay another $1 billion a year for education, and thinks Minnesotans would be willing to approve tax increases to do just that.

The idea behind a billion-dollar boost is that it will take that much additional funding to raise the percentage of students going to college from the current 50 percent to 75 percent. Why is that so important? Growth & Justice officials said at a Wednesday news conference that rising global competition means the undereducated will be increasingly left behind.

"We know that Minnesota students have to attain something beyond high school if they're going to be able to take advantage of a globalized economy," said Angie Eilers, the group's research and policy director. "Education is a chief driver to a robust economy."

Officials at Growth & Justice, which focuses its studies on public investment to improve the economy, proposed a plan that pumps more money into not only all levels of education, but early childhood care as well.

The biggest chunk of the $1 billion would be $285 million a year earmarked for pre-K through third grade. That money would pay for half-day preschool classes, the hiring of more teachers to reduce class sizes, and social skills training. At the other end of the spectrum, the proposal calls for $115 million a year to help students pay for college.

"Minnesota is a high-tuition state, but a moderate need-based aid state," Eilers said.

Growth & Justice officials contend that the additional expense will be more than made up by the savings accrued from reduced demand for welfare and other public assistance, and the lower crime rates that result from higher levels of education.

The proposal would require tax increases, either in the form of an adjusted sales tax, or higher income taxes for wealthy Minnesotans. But Growth & Justice president Dane Smith said the time is right to ask Minnesotans to chip in a little more. He cited the presidential election of Barack Obama, who has proposed making wealthier Americans pay higher income taxes, and the passage of the state outdoors and clean water amendment, which carried a sales tax hike with it, as evidence that the time is ripe for the proposal.

"I think it's more feasible than it was a month ago," Smith said. "When this context is explained to people they come around."

Growth & Justice officials say they are still discussing how their proposal, or parts of it, can become law. One possibility would be to wedge it into a phased-in DFL initiative that calls for a $2.5 billion annual increase in K-12 spending.

More than $7 billion a year, about 40 percent of the state's general fund budget, goes to K-12 education.

Norman Draper • 612-673-4547

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