There is no school today in the Minneapolis School District, after months of negotiations failed to produce a collective bargaining agreement
between Minneapolis Public Schools and educators’ unions. At issue for the union are higher wages, smaller class sizes and mental health support within the district. The Minneapolis Public School District has responded that there is no more money to spend in the face of declining enrollment, which means less funding from the State of Minnesota.
State Senator Rich Draheim believes the state has done its share and then some.
Senator Draheim said that in the six years that he has been in the Senate, public education spending has increased by what he called “quite a bit.” And, he said, the state is only one source of revenue for school districts.
The state provides about 70% of the funding to each district every year. The Senator said there is also money that comes from the federal government each year, although he pointed out that that particular revenue stream generally does not supply the money that has been promised, and of course, each school district receives money through local property tax levies as well.
Draheim expressed some frustration, because he is constantly told the state does not fully fund education, but he is never presented with a definition to his liking of what “fully funded” means.
“The last six years we have increased spending for K-12. Every year after we increase spending, we always get ‘You need to fully fund education.’ And they will never give us a definition of what ‘fully fund’ is. I don’t think you will ever see us ‘fully fund’ education, because it’s a moving target every year.”
While discussing education, the senator also said he has introduced a bill into the senate that would require teachers and schools to make it easier for parents to see the curriculum their children are being taught in the classroom.
“There’s already a statute out there where parents can get information on what the kids are being taught,” he said. “We’re pushing it just a bit farther where there has to be an online availability for an outline or a syllabus.”
Draheim said the point is to help parents be more engaged. Some school districts in the state of Minnesota, he said, are only graduating 50% of their students. He believes this bill will help parents understand what their students are being taught and will therefore make them more helpful in the process.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Senator Rich Draheim can be heard here
Lippert bills benefit rural areas
Representative Todd Lippert has a pair of bills introduced into the Minnesota House of Representatives designed to help the health and
economic well-being of rural Minnesotans.
The first bill would establish a protocol through the Minnesota Department of Health that would provide for the testing of water in private wells. According to Lippert, approximately 1.2 million Minnesotans depend on a private well for their water, but he said there are no safeguards in place. Untested well water can have high levels of nitrates, arsenic, manganese, and even lead in some places. But for many people it’s hard to know what is in their well without a good testing program in place.
Lippert has introduced the Private Well Testing and Remediation Act, which would establish a program within the Department of Health to give grants to local and tribal governments to pay for the testing of private residential wells for contaminants.
Should the water be found to be contaminated, the bill would make grants available to help with remediation, or decontamination, which can range, Lippert said, from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.
“Everyone deserves to have clean water,” he said, “and this bill is about ensuring people in rural areas have equal access.”
Lippert has also introduced a bill that will, as he put it, “give supply chain support to newer crops.”
The Representative said there has been more and more interest building for crops like Kernza, Winter Camelina, Elderberry and more that can act as excellent cover crops, providing help with carbon sequestration and enhancing soil health, but also providing a profitable harvest as well.
After some initial excitement regarding the use of these crops, he said his bill will now offer them the boost they need.
“These crops are on the edge of commercialization. What’s needed now is support for commercializing them. [People introducing] new products will talk about a ‘Valley of Death.’ They get started, there’s energy, and then there’s kind of this middle period where they have to get some financial support to bridge getting to scale. And these crops are at that point.”
Lippert said the bill supporting new crops had a very good hearing in the House Ag Committee last week, and his private well bill has been laid over by the House Health Finance and Policy Committee for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill later in the session.
Rich Larson’s full conversation with Representative Todd Lippert can be heard here
City offering consulting help for entrepreneurs and small business
The City of Northfield has partnered with the Twin Cities-based Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers to provide no-cost, one-
on-one business support for entrepreneurs and small business owners in Northfield.
MCCD is an association of nonprofit community development organizations that seeks to offer help developing strong neighborhoods backed by healthy small businesses. The organization encourages entrepreneurship by helping with strategic planning, tax information and accounting training, networking, and in some cases, even loans and access to capital.
According to the MCCD website, the consortium’s strength lies in its diverse membership. Organizational members include developers of affordable housing, groups specializing in small business development, and others who focus on workforce development. Each member works in different areas of community development, but all members seek to direct economic and social resources toward underserved communities.
Open office hours in Northfield begin this month. To learn more about MCCD and to sign up to meet with them, please contact MCCD Business Advisor Yoni MK Reinharz at yreinharz@mccdmn.org.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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