How do we know when enough is enough?
How Minnesota decides to answer that question and the measures we develop to monitor school performance in terms of tax dollars must be linked to our education reform efforts.
In Minnesota,
Parents United is part of P.S. Minnesota, a statewide coalition of 13 education organizations and parent groups working to carry forward the work of the Governor’s Funding Study in an effort to help Minnesota develop a school funding formula that is rationally linked to student learning (P.S. Minnesota Fact Sheet).
In November 2006, P.S. Minnesota released A Framework for a New Minnesota Education Funding Formula based on research conducted by national school finance expert John Myers. Following the release of the studies, the 2007 State Legislature authorized a K-12 Finance Reform Task Force. That Task Force held several public hearings, studied the recommendations of the P.S. Minnesota coalition, and proposed a bill to modify the school finance system and create a new education funding framework during the 2008 legislative session called the
NEW Minnesota Miracle
That bill was reintroduced as House File 0002 in the 2009 Legislative Session. On February 10, 2009, Parents United testified in support of that legislation. Schools for Equity in Education developed a two-page brief, HF2 - The New Minnesota Miracle: A Closer Look.
It was reintroduced in the 2010 Session as:
HF2431 (Greiling) School finance system modified, and new education funding framework created.
Through the efforts of P.S. Minnesota and many others, Minnesota should be able to answer the questions:
"What do we mean by a 21st Century education?"
and
"What funding is required for all students
to achieve at that level?"
In short, we should be able to know
when enough is enough.
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