1. Minnesota’s 21st century educational funding formula should be a rationally determined, learning-linked, student-oriented and cost-based Instructional Services Allocation.
   
   
2. Minnesota education must be enhanced even further by linking education funding to school and student performance.
   
   
3. A district’s Instructional Services Allocation, regardless of revenue source, should be considered by the state as a local discretion, appropriately regulated Block Grant.
   
   
4. School districts should continue to have state equalized revenue-raising authority to support locally preferred education activities, services and innovations through voter-approved referendums.
   
   
5. Minnesota should promote innovation in education as a means of maximizing financial resources to school districts.
   
   
6. Minnesota education funding should be conceived as a five-tier system:

• Instructional Services
• Local District Revenues
• Innovative Programs
• Categorical Programs
• Facilities and Debt Service

The Task Force recommended the following the next steps:

• Conducting follow-up study and analysis to determine the accuracy of the school-level instructional programs identified by the Professional Judgment Panel study.
  
  
• Determining the dollar value of the Instructional Services Allocation (ISA) through additional study and analysis.
  
  
• Conducting research to determine the appropriate “weighting” for the various relevant characteristics of individual students and the appropriate funding adjustments for uncontrollable conditions impacting a school district.
  
  
• Addressing the challenges created by implementing a new educational funding system to individual school districts and schools.
  
  
• Determining the appropriate amount of state regulations for accessing Block Grant revenues and identifying the required categorical programs beyond the ISA.
  
  
• Determining a process for making the transition for school districts with operating levies to the new funding system, including the challenges related to school districts that could be financially harmed by a funding formula change.

The report further recommended the state's role be limited to mission, means (money) and measurement.

Background

In 2003, Governor Pawlenty formed the Education Finance Reform Task Force to begin the work of tying the dollars to the actual costs of educating a child.  The charge of the Task Force was to recommend how Minnesota should change the education funding formula based on three guiding principles:

• Equity,
• Accountability, and
• Accessibility

Since that time parent-citizen groups, school districts and education associations have called for a fourth guiding principle:

• Stability

The Task Force report recommended a six-point plan for reforming Minnesota school funding system and described the next steps needed to complete the work. Unfortunately, the work stopped there.  The Governor didn't get the job done. Instead, he took a group to Edmonton, Alberta to see how they allocate the dollars there.

In 2005, the Senate advocated for the completion of the Task Force’s work to include identification of needed revenues to adequately fund schools, but the final E-12 Education Omnibus Bill did not contain the language that would finish the work of the Governor’s Task Force on Education Finance.

Several education organizations raised the money necessary to complete the Governor’s Funding Study, commissioning John Myers to do the work. Dr. Myers is nationally known for this work and has been involved in studying the funding of schools for two decades.

The work of this collaborative effort is available through P.S. Minnesota.

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