Minneapolis Public Schools projected to run difficult deficit

After the 2023 DFL Trifecta year budget was signed into law, the DFL proudly declared that the DFL had "fully funded" K-12 education. Before the start of 2024, it was discovered that the DFL's fully funded K-12 education budget had left some public school systems with significant deficits. Therefore, it isn't surprising to learn from this Alpha News article that "Minneapolis Public Schools’ projected deficit for the 2026–27 school year has grown to more than $50 million, up from earlier estimates."

Further. the article reports "District leaders say the number could still change before the budget is finalized in June, but the widening gap only highlights ongoing financial and leadership turmoil inside one of Minnesota’s largest school districts." I suspect that the "leadership turmoil" that they're referencing is a fight between Education Minnesota and the taxpayers. Education Minnesota always wants more funding while taxpayers want smaller achievement gaps, more accountability and greater financial efficiency. This graphic displays the current projected MPS deficit:

The updated figures were presented at the Feb. 10 school board meeting by Ryan Strack, the district’s senior executive officer. Strack opened his presentation by emphasizing transparency and explaining why the district is sharing detailed assumptions earlier in the process. "Our goal really is to provide an increased level of transparency with access to information," Strack told board members, adding that district leaders want the public to understand "what assumptions we’re using and what methodologies go into this budget process so that we are showing our work."

He stressed that budgeting for a large urban district is inherently fluid. "The budget process here in Minneapolis and in all school districts is dynamic," Strack said. "It will change. Change is expected."

It isn't so much that the process is fluid as much as it is that the results aren't satisfactory. The achievement gap keeps getting wider with no end in sight. Check out this BS:

Noticce what isn't mentioned in the KSTP report. Notice that KSTP didn't mention the number of unfunded mandates passed by the state government. The slick trick is to tell school districts that they must do something, then tell the district they must fund the new mandate. Tim Walz, who signed the unfunded mandate into law, and Education Minnesota, who lobbied for the unfunded mundate, then tell the public they had nothing to do with the rising property taxes.

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