K-12 education finance bill passed by House

Published (4/23/2009)


The omnibus K-12 education finance bill the House passed on an 85-48 vote reflects today’s “troubled financial times,” said its sponsor, Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville). “Education is something that even in the hard times we should prioritize.”

HF2 holds education spending steady by containing no new education mandates, cutting outdated mandates and promoting shared services among districts as cost-saving measures, using $1.8 billion in accounting shifts and $275 million in one-time federal stimulus funds to offset spending cuts. (Watch the floor session.)

Its policy measures include significant charter school reforms and broader and more comprehensive ways  to assess student performance and measure schools’ accountability. It also includes Greiling’s plan for education funding reform that would stabilize and equalize state aid to school districts and take property tax levies out of the formula.

Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington), the House K-12 Education Finance Division’s minority lead, identified “three problems” with the bill: “There is no funding, there is no reform and there is no leadership.”