Gene, Thanks for the information. I have added some information and comments below. "* If the federal government funded its 40% commitment, Minnesota would see a $169 million increase in federal fund. This would provide an additional $1,564 per pupil." Unfunded requirements like this cause school districts a good deal of trouble. I wish there was a way to avoid the unfunded part. In many cases, I might very well agree with the requirement; especially if it would be unlikely that most school districts would do them on their own lacking the federal mandate. My guess is that special education is one of those areas which might be shorted without a requirement from the federal government. "* In Minnesota, the federal government currently provides $1,130 per pupil. The state currently provides, on average, $7,685 per pupil. * In 2001, the average special education per pupil expenditure nationwide is $13,320. The average per pupil expenditure for general education students is $6,660." In 1998-1999, the average per pupil expenditure in MN was $6695; the Hi for MN was $13,563, while the Lo was $5,227. This data came from a spread sheet I downloaded from the state site a few months ago. I will be happy to pass it along to anyone who is interested. I don't know if there has been a $1,000 per student increase over the last two school years. Gene and I could be using non-comparable numbers. For comparison purposes, I went to the Department of Public Instruction site for Wisconsin (where I grew up) and found a spread sheet with by district per student costs. Here are a few of the things I learned. 1. The average figure for WI in 1999-2000 was $8391; the Hi was $17,509 and the Lo was $4,948. 2. The Tomah school district, where my children spent nearly five years, is in the bottom 20% (86th from the bottom of 430) with per student spending of $7,685. 3. Winona's $6,381 would place it third from the bottom in WI. I draw several conclusions from the information above including: A. Much of Minnesota's K-12 public education system is under funded. B. District 861 is grossly under funded. C. In spite of both states providing large shares of K-12 funding, equity of funding across school districts does not exist. I will support a referendum for an override levy if one is brought before us. Glen Schumann Winona, MN [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> H: 507.454.3056 W: 507.453.3567 W FAX: 507.454.1440 Visit my Family Home Page: <http://www.hbci.com/~gschuman/home.htm>
BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 N:Schumann;Glen FN:Glen Schumann ORG:Winona Daily News;Advertising TITLE:Account Representative TEL;WORK;VOICE:(507) 453-3567 TEL;HOME;VOICE:(507) 454-3056 TEL;WORK;FAX:(507) 454-1440 ADR;WORK;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:;;601 Franklin Street=0D=0AP.O. Box 5147;Winona;MN;55987 LABEL;WORK;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:601 Franklin Street=0D=0AP.O. Box 5147=0D=0AWinona, MN 55987 ADR;HOME:;;3774 West 7th Street;Gopodview;MN;55987-1777 LABEL;HOME;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:3774 West 7th Street=0D=0AGopodview, MN 55987-1777 URL:http://www.luminet.net/~gschuman/home.htm URL:http://www.winonadailynews.com EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:[EMAIL PROTECTED] EMAIL;INTERNET:[EMAIL PROTECTED] REV:20001013T115605Z END:VCARD
