Thursday's House Education Finance Committee featured the discussion of two equity bills--HF 175 (Lucero) and HF 663 (Baker)--that would deliver a revenue bump to non-metropolitan area school districts through changes to the equity formula. I've come to playfully calling the equity formula the "Joan Rivers of School Funding Formulas" because it has been altered so many times it's pretty much beyond the recognized problem it was intended to remedy.
When the equity formula was first introduced in 1999 as SF 445/HF 1160, it had no distinction between metropolitan and non-metropolitan school districts. The original concept was based only on the level of referendum revenue per pupil a district had and revenue was to be provided to districts on the basis of where a district sat on that spectrum. Districts with little referendum revenue would have gotten more revenue than districts with high levels of referendum revenue. Almost immediately, that approach was altered and two revenue pools--metro and non-metro--were created for the calculation of equity revenue. Things only got more complicated in the intervening years with several new elements being added to the formula, making it virtually unrecognizable from as it was originally conceived.
Sticking with the show biz theme (it is Oscar night after all--and we'll miss Joan's antics on the red carpet this evening), HF 175 and HF 663 take us "Back to the Future." HF 175 does that by expanding the definition of the metropolitan area to include 27 additional school districts in counties that comprise what is called the "Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area delineated in 2009 by the United States Census Bureau." This would add Chisago, Isanti, Sherburne and Wright counties to the current seven-county metropolitan area. These counties have all experienced rapid growth over the past two decades and for all intents and purposes, they are metropolitan counties. HF 663 simply provides all non-metropolitan districts the same multiplier as metropolitan districts in the calculation of the equity revenue benefit. The price tag on HF 175 is just over $2 million and the price tag on HF 663 is approximately $8 million.
There was a lot of SEE testimony in support of these bills. Elk River Superintendent Mark Bezek and St. Michael-Albertville Superintendent (and SEE Legislative Chair) Jim Behle testified in favor of HF 175. I testified in favor of HF 663 along with Willmar Business Manager Pam Harrington and Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Businss Manager Dan Tait. It's hard to say where (or if) this fits in the discussions regarding the omnibus education funding bill, but I think it will receive serious consideration.
Bill Introductions from Thursday, February 19.
Senate
SF 916--Clausen--Provides for grants to teacher-powered schools--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF0916&session=ls89&version=latest&session_number=0&session_year=2015
SF 941--Koenen--Allows Willmar school district to start school before Labor Day for the 2015-2016 school year--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF941&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
SF 942--Koenen--Allows New London-Spicer school district to start school before Labor Day for the 2015-2016 school year--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF942&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
SF 959--Clausen--Makes year-long student teaching programs part of teacher preparation--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF959&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
SF 960--Weber--Permits Tracy, Pipestone, and Heron Lake-Okabena to start school before Labor Day for the 2015-2016 school year--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF960&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
SF 970--Hoffman--Makes compensatory pilot revenue permanent--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF970&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
SF 974--Dahms--Allows Wabasso, Milroy, Dawson-Boyd, and Canby school districts to start school before Labor Day for the 2015-2016 school year--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF974&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
SF 991--Wiger--Authorizes grants for water conservation education programs--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF991&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
SF 1000--Wiger--Establishes global workforce development grant program--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF1000&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
House
HF 1052--Wills--Makes information and resources for parents of young children more accessible--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF1052&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
HF 1075--Erickson--Removes language excluding retired principals who serve as a substitute principal from continuing education requirements--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1075&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
HF 1094--Mullery--Prioritizes early brain development in the early childhood family education home visiting program--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1094&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
HF 1095--Mullery--Increases funding for the early learning scholarship program--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1095&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
HF 1103--Swedzinski--Allows Wabasso, Milroy, Dawson-Boyd, and Canby school districts to start school before Labor Day for the 2015-2016 school year--https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF1103&version=0&session=ls89&session_year=2015&session_number=0
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