I am happy to respond to Mr. Stolarek's inquiry. There are never simple answers, so this is a little long.
>>Having just read David Brauer's recent posting >>announcing the appointment of a COO by the Mpls School >>District's Superintendant to help her with the >>District's financial problems, I am inviting the list >>members to either explain to me publicly in the form >>of a posting or privately chastise me as to why I just >>don't get it! First, about the Chamber's role in the referendum, the Minneapolis Chamber opposed the referendum in 92, was neutral in 96 and was a supporter in 2000. Mr. Jennings was Exe. Director in 2000. This year the state chamber opposed the metro area referenda, not the Minneapolis Chamber. Mr. Jennings was personally involved with the Measuring Up report, and is very serious about fiscal accountablitity of the district. Here's the scenario: The Mpls School District is in serious financial trouble. This is true. In this fiscal year, the district had a budget cut of $30 million. Next year's budget is projected to be about another $30 million. The school district is the 13th largest employer in the state with an over all budget for this year @ $660,000,000. I can think of no business this large that operates without someone to oversee and have direct oversight of all finances. But the difference here is that in the private sector, the COO of the CFO makes a lot more than $125,000. Mr. Jennings job will be to oversee the increasingly complex finances of the district and he will be able to help the district save money where needed and and reduce costs as far away from classrooms as is possible. The first 6 months of his salary will be paid from a McKnight grant. The cost benefits should well exceed his salary in 6 months time. It is the Superintendent's intention to do every thing possible to enhance and preserve teacher/student relationships and to more closely focus on education, which is the business of any school district. Since the early 1990's, the schools have been put into the position of needing to borrow money to cover expenses until the payments from the state come through. Meanwhile, the interest accrued on the payments to about 350 school districts across the state sits in the bank collecting interest. During that time many of the 350 districts have to borrow money and pay interest on that borrowed money. The interest paid on that borrowed money is determined in part by the amount of money any given district holds in its unreserved fund balance, a kind of savings account. Minneapolis has had to withdraw or put less away away for the last 5 years due to rising cost but no real dollar increases save for the first year after Ventura was elected when money was given on a one time only basis. This savings account, or more commonly known as a rainy day fund, is suppose to keep the districts operating if no more money were to come in. Currently, in Minneapolis that is at $13,058,000. That's enough to keep the district running for 4 1/2 days. Interest is also determined by an entity's ability to tax its community. The school district has a tax levy that is capped by the state. With the recent tax changes, the district has less control of it's financial future, which causes lenders to raise interest rates on borrowed money just a little bit more and all of that cost comes from taspayers. Some government entity someowhere will have to pay interest, this puts the burden on school districts across the state. In the recent shift of taxes, in reducing or removing property taxes to pay for schools (which was a more stable income for the school district), the state has picked up a much larger portion and is now facing a $2 billion shortfall. The state is more dependant on sales tax which is adversely affected by an economic recession as we are facing here. According to the department of revenue, our state is going to be hit harder than many other states given the type of economy we have. So the long range forecast is not good. And that surplus that Jesse was adamant about returning? It mostly came from the interest accrued on the school districts payments collecting interest in the state's account. In shifting the taxes, the state has a new payment schedule for all districts and almost all districts will be borrowing to cover expenses until the state payment comes through again. This will cost taxpayers more, so the shifting of taxes hasn't decreased taxes, it has merely changed which pocket tax payers will be paying out of. The over paid superintendant looks for another job in Tennesse. In a recent comparsion done by one of the major TV news channels, a comparable business the size of MPS pays its CEO over $1 million. Private schools in the area, such as Blake or Breck, pay their top directors more than $190,000. and they have far less students, no special education and no unfunded state or federal mandates. In the most recent audit received from Deloitte Touche last night, MPS is running very lean on administration, the district admin costs are at a little over 4% of expenses. Deloitte Touche, McKinsey Group and EDS are all outside business consultants, 2 of which have provided analysis of finances for MPS pro bono (for free). All 3 firms have stated emphatically that the district is running too lean in this area. Deloitte Touche has been saying this for at least 3 years prior to this year as well. Most non-profits run at about 9-15% in admin costs, private schools run at about 8%. To have replaced Dr. Johnson last summer would have taken several months up to 3 years. The cost of a search would have been minimum $35,000. and then luring a qualified person would have required a higher salary than what Dr. Johnson was being paid last May. This person would have had to start all over when the district is in the midst of huge reform, effectivily slowing or putting on hold all reform which would have an ill effect on our students. In the last 5 years, Dr. Johnson has raised millions in private grants and pro bono donations that have made a real difference, such as the Annenburg Arts grant, the recently received McKnight Grant for $3 million for high school reform, and the National Science Foundation award, to name just a few. To get someone of her caliper in here and functioning at the level Dr. Johnson does, would take 3-5 years. Without a leader, any organization stagnates or marks time. I hope that gives you and other interested list members a little more insight as to why the district needs to have a COO and how school districts operate across the state in the regards to the state tax shift. Audrey Johnson MPS BOE 10th ward _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
