Editorial: This school budget bill should be rejected

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's top education initiative -- requiring 70 percent of schools' budgets be targeted in the classroom -- passed its first test Thursday.

The classroom budget limit bill survived a Republican-friendly House committee Thursday by a narrow 15-14 vote. In fact, the committee did not recommend the bill at all; generally a committee approval includes a recommendation.

Rep. Bud Heidgerken, R-Freeport, recognized a weakness of this proposal when he voted against it Thursday. We commend him for his stand on this bill.

The entire House committee should have saved valuable legislative time by giving the proposal the rejection it deserves.

Pawlenty and the bill's sponsor, Rep. Karen Klinzing, R-Woodbury, just have not done their homework on this issue. Neither the governor nor Klinzing have been specific as to how schools are allegedly wasting money outside the classroom. And as a former teacher, Klinzing should have known better.

The bill appears to be a knee-jerk attempt to bring "accountability" to the K-12 funding schools receive from the state.

In reality, the Pawlenty proposal is another example of a state official/metro legislator attempt for a one-size-fits-all mandate to local education in this state.

Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, summed it up best: "It's a flawed proposal."

Here are some of the concerns:

n What do you do about library expenses? Are they not part of the classroom function?

n What happens if a school misses the 70 percent threshold? Schools could be forced to cut extracurricular activities to meet the 70 percent requirement.

n Rural schools will be at a disadvantage as significant portions of their budgets fund transportation needs.

n The 70 percent requirement could force some rural schools to consolidate in order to help meet the spending mandate.

n Schools could be forced to increase activity fees in order to help meet the spending mandate.

These all point to the weakness of Pawlenty's proposal for a new state mandate.

This proposal should be rejected when it reaches the House floor.