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Minnesota
Costing Out |
Useful Resources
Historical
Background
In 1988, 52 school districts and ten parents brought
suit claiming that unequal school funding created disparities
in educational opportunity that violated the Minnesota
Constitution. The trial court held that education is
a fundamental right under the state constitution and
that wealth-based disparities between districts created
an "impermissible absence of uniformity" in
the state's schools. In 1993, the Supreme Court of Minnesota
reversed the trial court in Skeen v. State,
505 N.W. 2d 299, despite affirming that education is
a fundamental right. The Court's reasoning relied heavily
on the plaintiffs' concession that the schools provided
an adequate education "because the state's portion
of the funding is equally distributed--and admittedly
provides the funding for an adequate education--we believe
that the present system of education funding withstands
constitutional scrutiny."
In 1995, the Minneapolis NAACP sued the state, claiming
that students in that city were denied a basic education,
in violation of the state constitution's education and
equal protection clauses. In 2000, the parties settled
with an agreement creating a new accountability system
for the Minneapolis schools and expanding the access
of low-income families to magnet and suburban schools.
Costing
Out
In November 2006, August, Augenblick, Palaich, and
Associates released a cost
study undertaken on behalf of the organization P.S.
Minnesota that estimated that the state’s schools
needed over $1 billion more in order to provide all
students an adequate education. Using the Professional
Judgment method of costing out, the study concluded
that the state had to boost funding above 2004-05 levels
by $1.79 billion, a 30% increase. Using the Successful
Schools method, the study concluded that funding had
to be increased by $1.05 billion, or 18%. The study
recommended the use of the Professional Judgment method
and figures.
Useful Resources
The National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Report, "Public
School Finance Systems in the United States and Canada,"
describes the Minnesota
school funding system in detail, as of the 1998-99
school year.
Last updated: March, 2008
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