Opinion | Basic support for St. Paul schools is up to voters again

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School districts across Minnesota have made one tough choice after another to balance their budgets. For years, we’ve done more with less and made painful cuts. In the St. Paul Public Schools, we’ve closed schools, reduced staff, scaled back on essential services and dipped into reserves without sacrificing quality education.

These cuts have been difficult. But they were necessary to balance the books and weren’t made in isolation. The St. Paul Federation of Educators, district leaders and school board members have learned to work together with trust and collaboration. This year, we reached our first contract agreement in almost 25 years before school started and without mediation. Even when we disagree, our goal is to put students and families first.

But even the strongest partnerships cannot overcome a broken funding system.

That’s why the upcoming school levy referendum in St. Paul is so critical. This measure isn’t about adding new programs or growing bureaucracy. It’s about preserving what we have: keeping class sizes manageable, retaining excellent educators and maintaining student support services that families count on. Without this levy, SPPS will face $37.2 million in additional reductions for the 2026-27 school year, cuts that will directly affect classrooms and our students. That means potential cuts to art, music, sports, college and career-readiness programs and the many things that make our schools great.

St. Paul isn’t alone in facing this impossible math. This year, school districts across the state will have 44 operating levy referendum questions on the ballot, and 80 more will ask voters for money to build new schools, update old ones and fund projects like HVAC systems, safety improvements and modern technology.

Federal support has also fallen short as Washington lawmakers continue to underfund services required by law. Minnesota schools were shortchanged $732.4 million in special education funding in 2023, according to the Minnesota Department of Education. And now, Congress’s proposed budget cuts could harm our most vulnerable students even more.

School districts across Minnesota are left with little choice but to go back to voters, again and again, just to provide the basics. Local ballot measures are not a long-term solution. But for SPPS and other districts, this is an essential step to avoid deeper harm, preserve programs and provide students with the opportunities they deserve. We’ve proven that even in difficult times, when leaders and educators work together with transparency and trust, we can put students first.

As the school board chair and president of the largest employee union in the district, we’re committed to working together to confront these financial realities with clarity and courage. We understand taxpayers are worried. Between city and county increases, many St. Paul residents feel squeezed. That’s why after November, we will continue to fight for more reliable state funding so the burden doesn’t keep falling on local homeowners. But it will take time for state leaders to fix the underlying problem, and this levy is the only tool we have to protect classrooms from devastating cuts.

And the need today is high, as our students are still recovering from pandemic disruptions. It has taken three years just to regain academic baselines, and federal COVID dollars to help our neediest students are gone. In St. Paul, that money supported after-school programs, reading supports, and music and art specialists. The last thing our kids need is to go backward by losing educators, cutting programs or stripping away supports that help them thrive.

This election is about whether we believe Minnesota’s children deserve safe, well-staffed schools, strong academic programs, and educators who can give them individual attention. In St. Paul, more than 33,000 students are counting on us.