Democrats: Minn. Education Bill Targets Poor, Minority, Special Needs Kids

In a state with one of the largest achievement gaps, Democrats say Minnesota's education funding bill ostensibly takes aim at programs for disadvantaged kids.

State Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said the bill, which has cleared the Senate, seems targeted at "programs that directly support children with disabilities, poor children and children of color," according to the Associated Press.

The Republican-supported education bill would dip into the pot of integration aid for large urban districts and re-allocate the money to incentivize districts that can improve student literacy.

Rep. Pat Garofalo, head of the House Education Finance Committee, said the integration program has done little to bring low-income or minority students' achievement levels up, the Star Tribune reported.

"We've been spending this money for a long time, and Minnesota has one of the worst achievement gaps in the nation," Garofalo said. "We have to come up with better ways to spend these dollars."

Democratic critics tell the Associated Press that plugging the integration aid pipeline is too drastic and would hurt poor and minority students.

"What this bill really says, members, is that Minnesota -- which has an issue in discrimination in employment, the worst in the country -- is going to walk away from human rights," said Rep. Kerry Gauthier, DFL-Duluth.

The bill also freezes state spending on special education, while increasing per-pupil payments to school districts by $100 over the next two years. Republicans hope the new emphasis on literacy would mean fewer students need special education programs in the first place.

Teachers would also be directly affected under the bill, with a two-year pay freeze, merit-based salary increases and limitations on striking. Republicans say these provisions could help avoid teacher layoffs, but Democrats were critical, the Associated Press reports.

"Wisconsin-style proposals that undermine collective bargaining do not belong in Minnesota," said Sen. Charles Wiger, DFL-St. Paul.

Comments

[tomteboda]

01:15 PM on 04/04/2011

Certain Minnesota school districts receive more than 3 x the median state funding. The median state funding is $7,500. Exactly why is it racist to suggest that while most schools get by on far, far less, some should continue to receive up to $23,500 / year / pupil?

[Storyhill]

08:04 PM on 04/03/2011

Is there a pattern here?

[mlaiuppa]

06:40 PM on 04/03/2011

Once again Republicans are clueless as to exactly what special education is and what it does for students with special needs.

[hairydodger]

12:15 AM on 04/03/2011

Republicans want half as many square busses and half as many drivers. let's face it folks, the Republicans know who's going to be productive and who won't. If they knew how they would only send corporate kids to school. They would be the only ones that really need an education anyway.

[Sepulchre]

11:20 PM on 04/02/2011

Of course it targets poor, minority and special needs kids. Those are the kids the Republicans don't like.

[juicybrisket]

12:43 AM on 04/03/2011

ahhh only the best from michelle bachmann

[Isthisalreadyinuse]

04:22 AM on 04/03/2011

What does shehave to o with state legislation?

[Isthisalreadyinuse]

04:23 AM on 04/03/2011

Sorry for poor typing in that one. Disregard.

[am10]

11:20 PM on 04/02/2011

I don't like a lot of this bill, but special education is out of control. Yes, there are many legitimate cases. However, many parents have caught onto the plus side of special ed and I'm quite tired of teachers being bogged down with IEPs that only enable bad work habits thus leaving the teacher little time for the best and brightest students and those that want to work.

[Sprydi1]

11:38 PM on 04/02/2011

You really have no clue how special ed works, do you?

[am10]

09:12 AM on 04/03/2011

Indeed, I do. I understand why special ed parents fight hard for their kids. But there are people that exploit it and it does take away from the general ed kids.

[calamityjohn]

11:03 PM on 04/02/2011

For some reason the article leaves out the point that MN has a Democratic governor whom I cannot imagine would sign this ..

[FeloniousBush]

08:50 PM on 04/02/2011

A couple of observations...
1. The non-white population in the US is growing faster than the white population.
2. The republicans hate public education, well they hate all public services as they do not generate a profit for their corporate benefactors.
3. republicans look to disenfranchise as much of the population as possible through their electioneering practices. Voter ID, ballot challenges, etc
4. Look for the republicans to attempt to re-institute literacy requirements for voter eligibility.

afterall, the lower the voter participation, the better the result is for the republicans.

[6p023E23]

09:40 PM on 04/02/2011

1. yes true.
2. I don't know where it says Federal govt has to be involved in education.
3.Voter ID is a must, I do not want, yesterday's permanent visitor Abdul or Sanchez voting illegally.
4. I don't know about that, but what I want is #of votes per person proportional to the $$ he pays as tax.

[FeloniousBush]

10:10 PM on 04/02/2011

Good one...except April Fools Day was yesterday.

[supportamerica]

09:10 AM on 04/03/2011

FeloniousBush: One observation you left out. There are less and less kids every year that qualify for AP classes. Yet zero attention is being paid to these kids that are going to be the leaders of this country in the future. I am not saying special ed is not needed, but the classes for these kids are getting larger. Oh, well my 13 year old Granddaughter starting next year in all AP classes will have a small class and better one on one teacher interaction.

[damilitantone]

08:46 PM on 04/02/2011

Really? Wow, what insight. It's a good thing that we have the democrats around to tell us what we already know. I've seen invertebrates with more backbones than these spineless weasels.

[freshie]

08:32 PM on 04/02/2011

It's all about balance and setting up the right situation but I don't trust any Republican these days. They have gone crazy!

[elizabethcity]

07:55 PM on 04/02/2011

More money does not mean better grades, better students, or better state tests. Why do people think money is the answer? What about family and better behaved kids?

[jharris344]

08:27 PM on 04/02/2011

Less money will not equate to better scores, either!

[6p023E23]

09:41 PM on 04/02/2011

less money will force the junk our of our school system.

[broui]

09:41 AM on 04/03/2011

Wow. Just wow.

You clearly know very little about public education and the costs.

While it is simplistic to argue "money is the answer", it is also simplistic and naive not to recognize that the larger the school's population of IEPs and students in poverty, the more it MUST cost to run it effectively for those students to have any chance of competing.

I happen to teach at one of the poorest, most diverse schools in my state. It also has a pretty decent number of IEPs, 504s and ELL students. Due to their poverty, their parents are moving A LOT because jobs are scarce and their homes are unstable. A full 1/3 of my students don't have a computer at home, making work difficult. They're often taking care of siblings when they get home and thus up late working on homework. The average student enters high school at our school reading and writing at the 5th grade level because of all this instability in their lives.

Behavior? Not really a problem.

And we get most of them caught up by graduation, too despite all that I've described and more.

But, it costs money. When Bill Gates was pouring money into our school for 5 years, all our stats were better than they are now. Everything was easier to do successfully - for the students and for us.

Money isn't the answer, but it sure helps.

[elizabethcity]

11:03 AM on 04/06/2011

I have been an educator for over 15 years in a public high school and have a different opinion about cost. It all starts in the home; a better home life means better kids, better schools, and better grades. You can spend all the money you want, but if their home life sucks, your job is not going to be easy. My district is around 60/40 white and spends less money on kids compared to the other districts around and we have the best scores around! Money may help, but it won't make kids learn if they can barely make outside the school. By the way, many, many fellow teachers feel the same way as I do. Local control of schools is the best way to improve schools!

[Mudshark3625]

07:25 PM on 04/02/2011

While I agree with the Democrats critique of the cuts to education funding as being particularly unfair to poor, minority, and special education students, I wish they would look at what the policies of our Democratic president are doing. Despite multiple studies that show charter schools are underserving special needs, English language learners, and other disadvantaged students, Obama has been promoting a privatization agenda predicated on faulty standardized test scores that is making the conditions ripe for the type of anti-union, teacher bashing legislation we have been seeing from the GOP.

[6p023E23]

09:43 PM on 04/02/2011

hile I agree with the Democrats critique of the cuts to education funding as being particular­ly unfair to poor, minority, and special education students,

1. I don't understand why it is Federal govt business to do anything with education.
2. "special education' : you mean the "mentally challenged children". I do not know why govt should be held responsible for educational them either.

[Sprydi1]

10:07 PM on 04/02/2011

It is in our best interest to have an educated nation. Perhaps, if we were doing a better job, "we" would be educated enough to vote for fewer sociopaths.

[broui]

09:46 AM on 04/03/2011

Special Education need not mean "mentally challanged". That is false. SPED designation could come for a variety of reasons and many are exited from their IEPs before graduation (as is the goal).

But to the extreme cases, they not only have a right, per the Supreme Court, we have a moral obligation as a society to teach them at least something.

The ladies that teach that program in my school are saints AND brilliant. From simple things like teaching them to wash themselves etc, to delivering mail, to feeding themselves. We're teaching them skills. That's what public education does. It's not so every kid can go to college, necessarily. G-d forbid you have a family member that needs this kind of education.

[clwestx]

06:50 PM on 04/02/2011

This is to those in Minn.: your state has a multi-billion $$ deficit. Your state has a rating of between 26th and 29th, depending on your source, compared to other states in education ratings.

So, where do you want your state to cut funding?

If there is a reduction in Medicare, there will be a howl and stories like this.
If there is a reduction in HomeCare, there will be a how and stories like this. Etc.

So, who gets the ax? Which agency loses the personnel? A multitude of studies prove that the amount of money spent per student doesn't equate to higher grades (NY, NJ, DC - highest per student $$, lowest grades), so raising education spending isn't the answer...NOR is cutting the answer. But, cuts have to be made.

The question is: Who do YOU choose to suffer? It is, after all, your state.

[elizabethcity]

07:55 PM on 04/02/2011

Very nice!

[allis1]

01:12 AM on 04/03/2011

As a born and bred Minnesotan who has actually read these bills cover to cover, who do I choose to suffer,as you put it? Those who can most easily afford it, period, yes that means, the richest
citizens, both individual and corporate. As far as the quality of education in Minnesota is concerned, we were at the top of the heap until we got stuck with folks like Pawlenty, Bachman
and Emmer. To think that we can cut indefinitely without raising revenue is ridiculous, conservatives love to quote the old cliche of the family sitting around the kitchen table paying their bills, well many of us have to work extra hours to make ends meet, cutting back on
essentials is not an option. Education and healthcare for all and assistance for those unable to fully care for themselves are essentials in my book. The reforms proposed in the house and senate bills go way beyond struggles over funding. They include, as this article said, restrictions
on collective bargaining, a teacher evaluation format that would drastically affect teacher tenure and teachers wages, based on a formula that has no proof whatsoever that it would get
the desired results. As far as special education funding goes, the sad fact is that we have
more and more children with autism, learning disabilities, mental illness etc, and fewer resources to help them. To whom much is given, much should be expected.

[CubanVoice]

06:26 PM on 04/02/2011

Any and all Republican education bills target the poor, minorities and the disenfranchised!

Just like their plans for the economy, cutting the budget, and all else.

This is not new.