As Minnesota schools set their budgets for the upcoming academic year, many are facing shortfalls. Districts say the deficits are triggered by inflation, costs associated with new legislative requirements and a looming fiscal cliff as pandemic funds are set to expire in September.
In Minneapolis and St. Paul, though, plunging enrollment over decades has created a much deeper problem. Minnesota’s school funding system is based on a per-pupil formula, which means when kids choose to learn elsewhere, the thousands of dollars in state and federal funds that go with them, is spent elsewhere.
Minneapolis school board members on Tuesday will meet to talk about how to close a $110 million deficit. It’s a situation that makes it extremely difficult to cut costs fast enough as kids leave and don’t come back.
