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Subject: Friends of Education...This is Not A Drill!!!
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To: All who care about Education in MN
From: Robin & Kristina
Community Action for Community Schools
http://CAFCS.homestead.com/index.html
Folks:
Below is the text of a letter from Superintendent Johnson
that all Minneapolis staff will receive today, Friday,
January 26th. I think this letter is informative and
explains what is going on regarding funding for our
schools. It speaks to the Minneapolis Referendum, Special
Education funding and what we can do to turn this budget
shortfall nightmare around.
In addition, following the letter from Superintendent
Johnson, is a copy of an e-mail that Jim Grathwol
(Minneapolis District Lobbyist) has sent to Catherine
Shreves, Mpls. School Board Director. Key info.
Now is the time to write, fax, e-mail, call the Gov. Ventura
to let him know that his support of education is way out of
line. Personal reflections on how this would affect you,
your children, your story etc. will have an impact.
Please forward this e-mail to your friends and familiy
members and encourage them to get involved. Thank you.
A known way to get attention at the Capitol is to swamp
telephone lines telephone lines with our concerns. Let's
do it!
Gov. Jesse Ventura
130 State Capitol
75 Constitution Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55155
Voice: 651.296.3391, Fax: 651.296.2089
1. Sup. Carol Johnson's letter date January 23, 2001:
"Minneapolis Public Schools staff:
As we enter the 2001 legislative session, I felt it
important to communicate with all staff regarding our
projected budget shortfall for the 2001-2002 school year and
how seriously the district will be affected.
The Governor's proposed budget offers very little new money
for K-12 education over the biennium. Without substantial
changes in the budgets that will be proposed next month by
the House and Senate, we can expect shortfall in the
district of $29.5 million.
Faced with a $29.5 million shortfall, we are beginning now
to plan for substantial district wide cuts. Each department
must submit, by January 26, a plan to reduce its 2001-2002
total budget (staff and program) by 25 percent. Depending
on the size of the department, those cuts will range from
$10,000 to $1.5 million. If, in fact, there is little
movement at the legislature as the session progresses, more
drastic cuts
including the elimination of whole departments will be
considered.
In addition, each principal will be asked to work with his
or her site team to plan for a projected 25 percent cut in
per capita funding for the 2001-2002 school year. Per
capita represents only a portion of a school's budget and
does not effect referendum class size dollars, compensatory
education or Title I funds. You should be aware, however,
that some schools may face even more budget reductions due
to demographic changes such as reduced enrollment or a
decrease in the number of students who are eligible for free
or reduced price lunch.
Beginning February 1, we are also implementing the following
cost savings measures, which will remain in effect through
June 30:
-hiring freeze for all non-essential personnel
-a freeze on all position upgrades not currently in process
-a freeze on overtime
--limits on non-essential travel
Some of you may wonder how we can project a shortfall when
we just passed an eight year referendum renewal that will
generate approximately $40 million annually. Referendum
money is committed to keeping current class sizes (with a
small amount for early childhood education). All of the
$40+ million is spent on keeping this promise and is not
available for general purposes. While school budgets may be
cut, the referendum money means that current class sizes can
and will be maintained.
The primary reasons for the shortfall include:
* Transportation costs are expected to increase by 7%, or
approximately $2.6 million; $400,000 is included within
the salary and benefits increase due to driver
shortages and high demand, and the remaining $2.2
million is anticipated for increases in fuel and
contract transportation costs. We have convened a
Transpiration Task Force to develop strategies to
reduce transportation costs.
* Utility prices have increased by $2.3 million due to
the increase in energy costs and that trend may
continue.
* We will be experiencing a probable double digit
increase in the cost of providing health benefits to
our employees.
* Special education needs in the district and the cost of
providing those services continue to rise. Although
federal and state laws require our district to provide
these services, the state covers less than 66% and the
federal government provides 7% of the costs.
Therefore, we have to fund special education with cross
subsidy dollars (from other areas of our budget). We
need to continue our push for the state and federal
governments to fully fund special education.
* There is a need to maintain a competitive salary
structure to ensure quality instruction.
* Education funding is competing with political support
for tax cuts and rebates and is losing.
I recognize this letter will generate many questions. To
make sure that you have answers in a timely fashion, the
Communications Department and our District Lobbyist will
post weekly budget updates on the For Staff section of our
web site. UpFront, the employee newsletter, will contain
monthly budget and legislative updates an staff and parents
can e-mail questions directly to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In
addition, staff are encouraged to check the daily Hotline
for late breaking legislative news. We will also work
closely with union stewards to disseminate information to
employees as it becomes available. There will also be an
aggressive external communication plan to keep parents and
other stake holders informed.
Finally, I believe that just as we worked together in a
focused way to pass the referendum we must mount a concerted
district wide effort to lobby legislators to increase the
amount of new money in the k-12 budget and to fully fund
special education. We will provide you with information in
the next week about opportunities for grassroots lobbying
efforts for staff and parents. This is an issue that
affects districts across the state and we will be partnering
with them, as well as our colleagues in higher education, to
send a strong message to the Governor and the Legislature
that if Minnesota is to remain a national education leader
we must have a greater commitment of resources from the ate.
Regarding special education, you should be aware that the
school district receives money from Congress and the
Legislature to provide education services to children with
special needs. The 'cross subsidy' is the amount of money
the district spends out of its general fund to serve these
children (as required by law) over and above the special
education state and federal aids provided. In Minneapolis
in 1998-99, the cross subsidy was $27.5 million.
Legislative action to fully fund special education would
drastically reduce the district's budget concerns and
facilitate long range budget planning.
The next few months will not be easy and we will be forced
to make difficult choices and decisions. As our budget
process unfolds, we must not lose sight of our ultimate goal
- to help each student attain academic excellence. Thank
you for your work on behalf of the children.
Sincerely,
Carol R. Johnson
Superintendent"
2. Jim Grathwol's e-mail the Catherine Schreves:
"Catherine, here is the message. We want people to act now
to call their state Legislative leaders. This is not a
drill. Every parent, employee and friend of Minneapolis
Schools should speak up now.
This week, the Governor released his budget proposals for
the next biennial budget (school years 2001-02 and
2002-03). His biennial budget is heavily weighted to tax
cuts and leaves little for investments in early childhood
programs, K-12 schools and higher education. Despite a
surplus totaling $3.7 billion, the Governor's budget would
CUT $3.1 million from the Minneapolis Schools
appropriation. The following link to the Department of
Children, Families and Learning web page, provides a
district-by-district breakdown of the Governor's proposal.
Despite the rhetoric you may have heard from the Governor
and Commissioner Jax, the spread sheets clearly show that
many school districts would receive less revenue than last
year. The web address is:
http://cfl.state.mn.us/dpf/govrecdistbydis2003.pdf
It is very clear to me that the Governor has not heard from
us. He has not heard from parents, students, teachers or
school administrators. We must act now to ensure that
Legislature knows we are unhappy with the Governor's
education proposals. And we should let the Governor know
that when he considers vetoing an education bill that
provides schools with the revenues they need to continue to
improve student achievement, we will be watching. There are
enough resources to provide meaningful tax relief and
provide schools the resources they need.
What does the Governor's budget mean for the Minneapolis
Schools?
The Minneapolis schools are facing significant cost
increases in many areas of the budget over which we have
little or no control.
* As you have seen with your own home heating bills, the
cost of heating fuel is skyrocketing. Despite a
concerted effort over the past five years to replace
leaky windows, tuck point buildings and update
inefficient heating systems, the Minneapolis schools
are anticipating heating fuel cost increases of several
million dollars.
* Busing cost increases will exceed the budgeted amount
by $638,000. And the costs estimates for next school
year are even higher.
* Health care costs are also skyrocketing. The schools
saw double digit increases in health care premiums this
year and costs are projected to rise next year by as
much as 22%.
* English Language Learner and special education
enrollments continue to expand while the Governor
proposes no new revenues to meet these needs.
We are projecting a budget shortfall of $29.4 million for
the next school year. The Governor's budget would increase
the shortfall to $32.5 million. The impact on schools would
be devasting. We must work to inform legislators that this
is unacceptable.
Message for Governor Jesse Ventura:
* Your education budget proposals provide no resources
for public education in the first year of the
biennium. Schools cannot raise standards, sustain
recent achievement increases, and reform teacher
compensation without support from the state.
* The budget surplus is large enough to provide
meaningful tax relief and funding increases for
schools.
Schools are struggling to meet current law mandates like
special educator ands eking double digit health care cost
increases and skyrocketing fuel costs. Please provide
leadership at the state level to ensure districts have the
resources to offset these costs.
Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe
208 Capitol, St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
Voice: 651.296.2577
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* Thank you for your past leadership and support for
public education. The Governor's education proposals
mean schools will have to make real cuts and that
student achievement will suffer if his budget is
adopted.
* Our schools are raising test scores, innovating in
teacher compensation, implementing high standards and
increasing schools accountability. We can't do that
without your support!!! Please use this projected
budget surplus to make a significant investment
commitment to K-12 Education.
* We appreciate your past leadership and continue to
count on the Senate to make strategic investments in
public education that promote teacher quality, increase
student achievement, and enhance school accountability
to the students and families they serve.
Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum
463 State Office Building
St. Paul, MN 55155
Voice: 651.296.2273
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* Thank you for your past leadership and support for
public education. The Governor's education proposals
mean schools will have to make real cuts and that
student achievement will suffer if his budget is
adopted.
* Our schools are raising test scores, innovating teacher
compensation, implementing high standards and
increasing schools accountability. We can't do that
without your support!!! Please use this projected
budget surplus to make a significant investment
commitment to k-12 education.
* We appreciate your past leadership and continue to
count on the House to make strategic investments in
public education that promote teacher quality, increase
student achievement, and enhance school's
accountability to the students and families they serve.
--------------F838B9EF7859A1FBD7B73C15
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<html>
To: All who care about Education in MN
<br>From: Robin & Kristina
<br> Community
Action for Community Schools
<br> <a
href="http://CAFCS.homestead.com/index.html">http://CAFCS.homestead.com/index.html</a>
<p>Folks:
<p>Below is the text of a letter from Superintendent Johnson that all Minneapolis
staff will receive today, Friday, January 26th. I think this letter
is informative and explains what is going on regarding funding for our
schools. It speaks to the Minneapolis Referendum, Special Education
funding and what we can do to turn this budget shortfall nightmare around.
<p> In addition, following the letter from Superintendent Johnson,
is a copy of an e-mail that Jim Grathwol (Minneapolis District Lobbyist)
has sent to Catherine Shreves, Mpls. School Board Director. Key info.
<p><b>Now is the time to write, fax, e-mail, call the Gov. Ventura to let
him know that his support of education is way out of line.
Personal reflections on how this would affect you, your children, your
story etc. will have an impact. </b> Please forward this
e-mail to your friends and familiy members and encourage them to get involved.
Thank you.
<p><b>A known way to get attention at the Capitol is to swamp telephone
lines telephone lines with our concerns. Let's do it!</b>
<p><b>Gov. Jesse Ventura</b>
<br>130 State Capitol
<br>75 Constitution Avenue
<br>St. Paul, MN 55155
<br>Voice: 651.296.3391, Fax: 651.296.2089
<br>
<br>
<p><b>1. Sup. Carol Johnson's letter date January 23, 2001:</b>
<p>"Minneapolis Public Schools staff:
<p>As we enter the 2001 legislative session, I felt it important to communicate
with all staff regarding our projected budget shortfall for the 2001-2002
school year and how seriously the district will be affected.
<p>The Governor's proposed budget offers very little new money for K-12
education over the biennium. Without substantial changes in the budgets
that will be proposed next month by the House and Senate, we can expect
shortfall in the district of $29.5 million.
<p>Faced with a $29.5 million shortfall, we are beginning now to plan for
substantial district wide cuts. Each department must submit, by January
26, a plan to reduce its 2001-2002 total budget (staff and program) by
25 percent. Depending on the size of the department, those cuts will
range from $10,000 to $1.5 million. If, in fact, there is little
movement at the legislature as the session progresses, more drastic cuts
<br>including the elimination of whole departments will be considered.
<p>In addition, each principal will be asked to work with his or her site
team to plan for a projected 25 percent cut in per capita funding for the
2001-2002 school year. Per capita represents only a portion of a
school's budget and does not effect referendum class size dollars, compensatory
education or Title I funds. You should be aware, however, that some
schools may face even more budget reductions due to demographic changes
such as reduced enrollment or a decrease in the number of students who
are eligible for free or reduced price lunch.
<p>Beginning February 1, we are also implementing the following cost savings
measures, which will remain in effect through June 30:
<br>-hiring freeze for all non-essential personnel
<br>-a freeze on all position upgrades not currently in process
<br>-a freeze on overtime
<br>--limits on non-essential travel
<p>Some of you may wonder how we can project a shortfall when we just passed
an eight year referendum renewal that will generate approximately $40 million
annually. Referendum money is committed to keeping current class
sizes (with a small amount for early childhood education). All of
the $40+ million is spent on keeping this promise and is not available
for general purposes. While school budgets may be cut, the referendum
money means that current class sizes can and will be maintained.
<p><tt>The primary reasons for the shortfall include:</tt>
<ul>
<li>
<tt>Transportation costs are expected to increase by 7%, or approximately
$2.6 million; $400,000 is included within the salary and benefits increase
due to driver shortages and high demand, and the remaining $2.2 million
is anticipated for increases in fuel and contract transportation costs.
We have convened a Transpiration Task Force to develop strategies to reduce
transportation costs.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>Utility prices have increased by $2.3 million due to the increase in
energy costs and that trend may continue.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>We will be experiencing a probable double digit increase in the cost
of providing health benefits to our employees.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>Special education needs in the district and the cost of providing those
services continue to rise. Although federal and state laws require
our district to provide these services, the state covers less than 66%
and the federal government provides 7% of the costs. Therefore, we
have to fund special education with cross subsidy dollars (from other areas
of our budget). We need to continue our push for the state and federal
governments to fully fund special education.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>There is a need to maintain a competitive salary structure to ensure
quality instruction.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>Education funding is competing with political support for tax cuts
and rebates and is losing.</tt></li>
</ul>
<tt>I recognize this letter will generate many questions. To make
sure that you have answers in a timely fashion, the Communications
Department and our District Lobbyist will post weekly budget updates on
the For Staff section of our web site. UpFront, the employee newsletter,
will contain monthly budget and legislative updates an staff and parents
can e-mail questions directly to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In addition,
staff are encouraged to check the daily Hotline for late breaking legislative
news. We will also work closely with union stewards to
disseminate information to employees as it becomes available. There
will also be an aggressive external communication plan to keep parents
and other stake holders informed.</tt>
<p><tt>Finally, I believe that just as we worked together in a focused
way to pass the referendum we must mount a concerted district wide effort
to lobby legislators to increase the amount of new money in the k-12 budget
and to fully fund special education. We will provide you with information
in the next week about opportunities for grassroots lobbying efforts for
staff and parents. This is an issue that affects districts across
the state and we will be partnering with them, as well as our colleagues
in higher education, to send a strong message to the Governor and the Legislature
that if Minnesota is to remain a national education leader we must have
a greater commitment of resources from the ate.</tt>
<p><tt>Regarding special education, you should be aware that the school
district receives money from Congress and the Legislature to provide education
services to children with special needs. The 'cross subsidy' is the
amount of money the district spends out of its general fund to serve these
children (as required by law) over and above the special education state
and federal aids provided. In Minneapolis in 1998-99, the cross subsidy
was $27.5 million. Legislative action to fully fund special education
would drastically reduce the district's budget concerns and facilitate
long range budget planning.</tt>
<p><tt>The next few months will not be easy and we will be forced to make
difficult choices and decisions. As our budget process unfolds, we
must not lose sight of our ultimate goal - to help each student attain
academic excellence. Thank you for your work on behalf of the
children.</tt>
<p><tt>Sincerely,</tt>
<p><tt>Carol R. Johnson</tt>
<br><tt>Superintendent"</tt>
<br>
<p><b><tt>2. Jim Grathwol's e-mail the Catherine Schreves:</tt></b>
<p><tt>"Catherine, here is the message. We want people to act now
to call their state Legislative leaders. <b>This is not a drill. </b>
Every parent, employee and friend of Minneapolis Schools should speak up
now.</tt>
<p><tt>This week, the Governor released his budget proposals for the next
biennial budget (school years 2001-02 and 2002-03). His biennial
budget is heavily weighted to tax cuts and leaves little for investments
in early childhood programs, K-12 schools and higher education. <b>Despite
a surplus totaling $3.7 billion, the Governor's budget would CUT $3.1 million
from the Minneapolis Schools appropriation.</b> The following link
to the Department of Children, Families and Learning web page, provides
a district-by-district breakdown of the Governor's proposal. Despite
the rhetoric you may have heard from the Governor and Commissioner Jax,
the spread sheets clearly show that many school districts would receive
less revenue than last year. The web address is: <a
href="http://cfl.state.mn.us/dpf/govrecdistbydis2003.pdf">http://cfl.state.mn.us/dpf/govrecdistbydis2003.pdf</a></tt>
<p><tt><b>It is very clear to me that the Governor has not heard from us.
He has not heard from parents, students, teachers or school administrators. </b>
We must act now to ensure that Legislature knows we are unhappy with the
Governor's education proposals. And we should let the Governor know
that when he considers vetoing an education bill that provides schools
with the revenues they need to continue to improve student achievement,
we will be watching. <b>There are enough resources to provide meaningful
tax relief <u>and</u> provide schools the resources they need.</b></tt>
<p><tt>What does the Governor's budget mean for the Minneapolis Schools?</tt>
<p><tt>The Minneapolis schools are facing significant cost increases in
many areas of the budget over which we have little or no control.</tt>
<br>
<ul>
<li>
<tt>As you have seen with your own home heating bills, the cost of heating
fuel is skyrocketing. Despite a concerted effort over the past five
years to replace leaky windows, tuck point buildings and update inefficient
heating systems, the Minneapolis schools are anticipating heating fuel
cost increases of several million dollars.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>Busing cost increases will exceed the budgeted amount by $638,000.
And the costs estimates for next school year are even higher.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>Health care costs are also skyrocketing. The schools saw double
digit increases in health care premiums this year and costs are projected
to rise next year by as much as 22%.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>English Language Learner and special education enrollments continue
to expand while the Governor proposes no new revenues to meet these needs.</tt></li>
</ul>
<tt>We are projecting a budget shortfall of $29.4 million for the next
school year. <b>The Governor's budget would increase the shortfall
to $32.5 million.</b> The impact on schools would be devasting.
We must work to inform legislators that this is unacceptable.</tt>
<p><b><tt>Message for Governor Jesse Ventura:</tt></b>
<br>
<ul>
<li>
<tt>Your education budget proposals provide no resources for public education
in the first year of the biennium. Schools cannot raise standards,
sustain recent achievement increases, and reform teacher compensation without
support from the state.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>The budget surplus is large enough to provide meaningful tax relief
and funding increases for schools.</tt></li>
</ul>
<tt>Schools are struggling to meet current law mandates like special educator
ands eking double digit health care cost increases and skyrocketing fuel
costs. Please provide leadership at the state level to ensure districts
have the resources to offset these costs.</tt>
<p><b><tt>Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe</tt></b>
<br><b><tt>208 Capitol, St. Paul, MN 55155-1606</tt></b>
<br><b><tt>Voice: 651.296.2577</tt></b>
<br><b><tt>Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]</tt></b>
<ul>
<li>
<tt>Thank you for your past leadership and support for public education.
The Governor's education proposals mean schools will have to make real
cuts and that student achievement will suffer if his budget is adopted.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>Our schools are raising test scores, innovating in teacher compensation,
implementing high standards and increasing schools accountability.
We can't do that without your support!!! Please use this projected
budget surplus to make a significant investment commitment to K-12 Education.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>We appreciate your past leadership and continue to count on the Senate
to make strategic investments in public education that promote teacher
quality, increase student achievement, and enhance school accountability
to the students and families they serve.</tt></li>
</ul>
<p><br><b><tt>Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum</tt></b>
<br><b><tt>463 State Office Building</tt></b>
<br><b><tt>St. Paul, MN 55155</tt></b>
<br><b><tt>Voice: 651.296.2273</tt></b>
<br><b><tt>Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]</tt></b>
<br>
<ul>
<li>
<tt>Thank you for your past leadership and support for public education.
The Governor's education proposals mean schools will have to make real
cuts and that student achievement will suffer if his budget is adopted.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>Our schools are raising test scores, innovating teacher compensation,
implementing high standards and increasing schools accountability.
We can't do that without your support!!! Please use this projected
budget surplus to make a significant investment commitment to k-12 education.</tt></li>
<li>
<tt>We appreciate your past leadership and continue to count on the House
to make strategic investments in public education that promote teacher
quality, increase student achievement, and enhance school's accountability
to the students and families they serve.</tt></li>
</ul>
<br> </html>
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