Are you angry about the latest round of program cuts in our public schools?

Are you sick of higher class sizes, the loss of excellent teachers, the reduction of options and the constant threat of losing extracurricular activities that are so vital to our children's education?

Are you frustrated because these cuts seem to be happening year after year, with no end in sight?

If so, you are not alone.

Recently, much of the anger and frustration has been aimed at our local school boards, which have been struggling to put in place budgets for the coming school year without knowing how much money they will have to work with. That is the wrong place to direct your anger -- you should be letting your state legislators know how disappointed you are.

In the 1970s, the state made an innovative change -- dubbed the Minnesota Miracle -- and took the major portion of school funding upon itself, relieving the burden on local property owners and providing more equity in school funding between the more and less affluent parts of the state. With this change came a commitment by the state to adequately and consistently fund our schools.

For some time this system worked well, and Minnesota was hailed nationwide as a leader and innovator in K-12 education.

Over the last decade the state has not held up its end of the bargain. In fact, since 1991 state K-12 funding has not kept pace with inflation. During one recent biennium (2003-04) there was no increase at all.

In the meantime, the state and federal governments have burdened school districts with additional testing requirements and a flood of mandates, without providing funds to pay for them.

The most expensive mandate -- special education services -- has never been fully funded and costs Minnesota school districts more than $500 million per year from their general education funds. In Hopkins, the cost is about $4 million, or the cost of approximately 80 teachers.

The results have been depressingly predictable -- year after year of higher class sizes, higher activity fees, gutted programs, school closings and teacher layoffs.

Obviously the state's overall budget has not been going down, so where is the money going? The answer is that it is going primarily to health and human service expenditures. The health and human services budget has been growing relentlessly over the past several years, both as a percentage of the state's overall budget and in real dollars. While these expenditures are important, they should not be made at the expense of our public schools, which is by far the most important long-term investment the state can make in our future prosperity and quality of life.

Right now, the Legislature stands at another crossroads. In the final days of the regular session it was wrestling with a huge budget deficit. There were three proposals for K-12 education funding on the table. The Senate proposal would make cuts to all programs across the board, cutting K-12 education by 3.2 percent. The House proposal would make no cuts in K-12 education, which is in fact a cut after inflation. The proposal made by Gov. Tim Pawlenty would increase K-12 education funding by 2 percent, which would allow school districts to operate without major cuts in the coming biennium.

Anticipating reduced or flat funding from the state, the Hopkins school board prudently adopted a preliminary budget for the coming school year that provides for a 2 percent reduction in expenditures. This painful budget comes on top of years of budget-cutting in the district, and has an impact on programs and teachers that are vital to the quality of our children's education. Many of us are very angry about it, and rightfully so. If the governor's proposal, or any plan that provides for a modest increase in public school funding, is adopted, all or some of these cuts could be avoided.

Want to channel your energy in a positive direction? Contact your state representative and state senator, and the Senate and House legislative leadership. Tell them to support the governor's proposal because it provides for an increase in funding for education, and to oppose the Senate's across-the-board cuts proposal.

You can write, e-mail or phone. Your voice will make a difference. Do it today.

If you want to get more involved, join the Hopkins Public School Legislative Action Coalition. Check it out at www.hopkinsschools.org/district-news/legislative- action-coalition.

ROBERT MATTISON

CO-CHAIR, HOPKINS LEGISLATIVE ACTION COALITION (LAC) STEERING COMMITTEE

Scott Grayson

Co- Chair, Hopkins LAC Business Task Force

Ward Eames

Co- Chair, Hopkins LAC Business Task Force