Dayton tells school chiefs he's an ally

For the middle of the dog days, it was a busy week for the state educational system.

Early last week, Gov. Mark Dayton made the case to a crowd of school leaders for the final budget's boost for K-12 education and emphasized that his administration should be "your ally, not your enemy."

Dayton told the state's annual gathering of superintendents that, while he disliked the funding shift that balanced the final budget, the bill did raise funding for K-12 education. Much of it was included in the $50 per-student, per-year formula increase, which will also help schools pay interest on the loans necessitated by the funding shift.

"We agreed on a final level of spending for K-12 education this biennium of over $133 million above the base," Dayton said to applause. "That is very much a shared commitment, as it should be. And that has to be viewed in the context of also having to eliminate a $5 billion budget deficit."

Another applause line: the governor's vow to keep pushing his plan to raise income taxes on the wealthy.

ERIC ROPER

GOP to teachers: No meeting

The Minnesota Republican Party canceled a meeting of Republican union teachers at their headquarters last week over concerns that the group was excluding non-union teachers.

A group of union members called the meeting with the GOP to form an "education caucus within the party," according to a post on Education Minnesota's website. "The goal was to get union members active, Republican union members active," said organizer Tom Schoper.

The group's views would likely be a stark contrast to the politics of the union itself, which has strong alliances to DFL lawmakers and causes.

GOP Chairman Tony Sutton canceled the meeting because, as he understood it, the group was limited to union members. He noted that the union typically opposes GOP education reforms.

ERIC ROPER

Dayton to greet Obama

When Air Force One touches down at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Monday morning, the Minnesota governor will be there to greet President Obama on the tarmac.

The airport will be the starting point for Obama's three-day, three-state bus tour.

Gov. Walker heading here

Fresh off of retaining Republican control of Wisconsin's state Senate, Gov. Scott Walker is headed across the border to deliver one of the keynote speeches at the Midwest Leadership Conference hosted by the Minnesota GOP this fall.

The conference, set for Oct. 7 and 8 in Bloomington, will include about 1,500 Republican leaders and activists from Minnesota and 11 other Midwestern states.

Announcing Walker's appearance last week, state Republican Chairman Sutton crowed in a prepared statement, "despite millions of dollars and man hours spent by the Democratic Party and its allies on the Wisconsin recall elections, Republicans maintained their majority status in the Wisconsin Senate."

In the run-up to the six recall elections, of which Republicans won four, party volunteers from Minnesota traveled to western Wisconsin to help GOP senators.

The party's presidential hopefuls (at least, those still standing in October) also have been invited to the conference.

BOB VON STERNBERG