Circle (spiral?) of Education Funding, Minneapolis edition

The Circle of Education Funding in Minneapolis Public Schools is starting to look and act like a spiral. Overspending on the last teacher contract has caused two years of budget cuts that will weaken their educational product offerings to parents, causing more of them to flee the district. The poor students left behind are stuck in failing schools with fewer and fewer (albeit highly paid) teachers.

TMDR: Watch the video:

At their March 5 meeting, the school board heard a budget presentation outlining proposed cuts to schools and the district office. Living out the Circle of Education Funding in real life, Minneapolis school leaders proposed cutting band for fifth graders, an example we often use when explaining the circle.

Minneapolis has to cut $110 million from their budget BEFORE they reach agreement with their union teachers over the next contract. These cuts will certainly include teacher positions, meaning younger teachers will lose their jobs so older teachers can get paid more. Classic union logic. This will also be the first time Minneapolis will use their new (and unconstitutional) preference system for layoffs that will protect certain teachers from layoffs depending on the color of the skin. Let the lawsuits begin!

Minneapolis is on a collision course with bankruptcy and the only way they can avoid it is to reach a reasonable settlement with their teachers’ union for the next two years. The budget put forward last week includes 2-5% increases for staff salaries.

If the teachers demand more than that, schools will be closed and young teachers will be laid off, forcing more parents to remove their students from the district. And the spiral continues.

This post is part of American Experiment’s broader campaign to expose the teachers’ union as an organization more concerned about adults than children. While many teachers in Minnesota work hard and care about the children they teach, their union Education Minnesota has opposed every important education reform in the history of the state. Go to EdMNHurtsProgress.org to learn more.