True North

At the beginning of April, the results of the Education Finance Reform Task Force, co-chaired by Rep. Greiling and Sen. Bonoff were revealed. See, you and I, being humble peasants, tend to think that “reform” means getting a handle on things, especially costs. But, in DFL World, reform means “Spend Until Our Hearts Give Out From The Exertion.”

In this post, we looked at a Lori Sturdevant column which mused about how much money the task force would want.

State Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, says bipartisan accord is within reach on a new, simpler funding formula for K-12 education, one better tied to what up-to-the-standards schooling actually costs.

All that’s needed, she said, to sell the Legislature on the recommendations likely to come out of a task force she cochairs is (drum roll, please) more money. A cool $1 billion more per year, phased in over a few years, would do the job.

Well, the estimate was close. Turns out Greiling and Company think a cool $1.7 billion is what is needed. A cornerstone of this mind-numbingly brazen proposal is a ginormous increase in the funding formula. The previous education bill set the formula allowance at $5,124 per pupil unit (easy way to remember: pee-yooh) for 2009. This new bill would set it to $7,500 for 2010. That’s a barely noticeable 46% increase.

A Strib article revealed a slight flaw in this grand scheme,

What remained unclear is how all this school largesse would be financed.
….
House K-12 Finance Division chairwoman Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, said that there would likely have to be some kind of tax increase to fund such a plan.

“I’m open to however the tax committee wants to fund it,” said Greiling, one of the funding plan’s chief architects.

In a day and age where high energy costs are stifling family budgets, and are spilling over into other areas like food costs, and when the state budget is already hundreds of millions of dollars in the hole, only a DFLer would think now is the time to completely fire education funding over the moon. (Just as only a DFLer would squawk at shaving a few million dollars for gorillas when faced with fiscal difficulties.)

Tom Scheck has this at MPR today.

DFLers who control the House and Senate say they will start passing budget bills today, even though the governor has threatened to veto them.

Negotiators working on the Tax Bill, the Finance Bill, the health care reform bill and an education funding bill have been told to wrap up their bills.

The House and Senate could vote on those bills today. Rep. Mindy Greiling, D-Roseville, said they will pass an education finance bill without Pawlenty’s backing, and may try to override a veto, if one occurs.

One can only wonder how long, or why, the voters in this state will put up with this.

A DFLer: One who ties him or herself to an anchor and happily walks off the gangplank.

(As for who benefits most from education funding, you can guess.)

Cross-posted at Truth Vs. The Machine. Comments welcome.

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