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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Federal money eases school cuts in Senate bill

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A Minnesota Senate committee has unveiled a school funding bill that follows through on a 7 percent spending cut.

DFL Senate leaders have proposed across-the-board cuts of 7 percent as part of their plan to solve the state's $4.6 billion budget deficit. The reduction in K-12 education spending would actually be softened to 3.2 percent with the inclusion of the one-time federal stimulus money. Still, school districts would lose $273 per student each of the next two years. Sen. Leroy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer, the chair of the Senate E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division, says he's pleased with the bill given the circumstances. But Stumpf says he knows it will be tough to vote for.

"Generally this committee funds education, Stumpf said. "And generally we try to make improvements in that funding. This time we're going in the other direction. We're making reductions."

The Senate education plan contrasts sharply with the budget plans from Governor Pawlenty and House Democrats. Those proposals protect schools from direct funding cuts, but they both delay some state payments to school districts until the next fiscal year.