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Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

It anything comes through in this statement, it’s the DFL’s stated intention to spend the taxpayers’ money recklessly. Here’s an example:

Aiming for a course correction after a decade of disinvestment, the House and Senate are likely to take up historic education bills next week at the State Capitol. Some the features of those bills include:

• Investing in what works – early learning: New investments to fund early education and all-day kindergarten, helping Minnesota students get on the right track early.
• Strategic funding for K-12 schools: Increasing per pupil funding for Minnesota schools throughout the state.
• Reducing college tuition and debt: Making the first investment in higher education in a decade to ease the burden of skyrocketing tuition and student debt.

Last week, DFL senators introduced the details of its proposed E-12 education budget. Unfortunately, it’s doomed for failure because its emphasis is on a failed policy. Dr. John Kern’s analysis of the return on investment for early childhood education shine a bright light onto the myth that a $1 investment into early childhood education programs will produce a $17 return on investment, aka ROI.

First, a little background is in order to introduce Dr. Kern to Minnesotans. Dr. Kern is an independent research scientist with BS and MS degrees in Mathematics and a PhD in Statistics and is regularly hired by state and federal agencies and Fortune 500 companies involved in the USEPA Superfund Program negotiating $500M+ environmental risk management decisions. Dr. Kern has testified about such issues before the National Academies of Science as well as on behalf of the United States Department of Justice as an expert witness. Dr. Kern derives no part of his income from education-related issues.

In other words, Dr. Kern’s skills have thoroughly equipped him to do statistical analysis of public policies. Next, here’s the list of early childhood education studies Dr. Kern analyzed:

I recently conducted an independent review of the studies repeatedly cited by Grunewald and other proponents of publicly funded universal early childhood programs and offered to provide the results of my evaluation to the Legislative committee on All-Day-K.

The primary studies cited by Rolnick, Grunewald and virtually all others include:

• High Scope Perry Preschool Study
• Abecedarian Project
• Chicago Child Parent Center

Some additional studies I reviewed include

• Minnesota School Readiness
• Michigan School Readiness
• Minnesota Burnsville District 191 All-Day-K
• Clark County Nevada Full-Day-K
• Tulsa Oklahoma Pre-K
• Head Start

Here’s part of Dr. Kern’s analysis of the various studies:

Primary Findings
The consensus I found is that: 1) socioeconomic conditions are the single largest determinant of success in school and life, 2) benefits of intervention accrue primarily to children in dire socioeconomic circumstances, and 3) benefits to the general population are minimal, fading by third grade, presumably because they are getting what they need in their home environments.

This information is particularly noteworthy:

Dr. Rolnick teaches (PA5490) “Economics of Early Childhood Education”, suggesting his expertise in the latest research. Yet, the Perry Pre-School Study is the sole source of data supporting his claim of a ten- to seventeen-dollar return on investment from ECE.

I reviewed Dr. Rolnick’s calculations and indeed, the benefits for 123 pre-school children studied in Ypsilanti Michigan, were giant—50% reduced incarceration rates. However, in their policy discussions, Rolnick and Grunewald downplay the nominal 50% incarceration rate in this community. Yes, the return on investment supporting now famous claims of 17-dollar ROI…are based almost entirely on money saved by reducing incarceration rates from 50% to 25%.

In spite of the highly unusual nature of the circumstances surrounding these children’s lives, proponents of these programs regularly extrapolate a 17 to 1 ROI to every dollar spent on virtually any early childhood program. It is extremely cynical or delusional that Rolnick and Grunewald fail to emphasize the critical caveats to these estimates based on just 123 subjects from one pre-school in desperate need of help.

It’s important that we pay attention to these important caveats. It’s foolish to think that the ROI on K-12 education spending will be 17:1 when the incarceration rate didn’t start at 50%. Reducing a high incarceration rate apparently accounts for most of this report’s 17:1 ROI. Where’s the ROI on K-12 education funding when the incarceration rate starts at 5%?

The DFL is only too happy to cite this bogus statistic because it’s great political cover. With that bogus statistic in their arsenal, they’re free to propose massive payoffs to the teachers’ union.

When this funding free-for-all ends and the DFL’s policies fail, which will happen, Minnesotans will have less money, the state won’t have a well-trained work force and the DFL will be forced to explain why they thought their failed proposal had a chance at succeeding.

At a time when the DFL has proposed gutting teacher accountability and qualiity, Republicans should be insisting that teacher quality be the first priority. Spending lots of money on teachers that aren’t qualified in math and science is just throwing money away.

This is a terrific time for the GOP to make a stand. They’d get credit for insisting that teachers be qualified to teach high school math and science at a time when too many high school math and science teachers aren’t qualified:

“…more than 900 MN teachers over the past 5 years have violated licensing rules… including 62 who taught with no license at all. Violations mostly involved instructors teaching the wrong subject or grade level affecting as many as 57,000 students…”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg:

The Sauk Rapids-Rice school district has four teachers with ‘elementary education’ degrees teaching secondary math or science.

When Greg Vandell left, only 19% of students graduated grade proficient in math. With unqualified teachers teaching math, that statistic isn’t surprising. If anything, it’s surprising that that statistic isn’t higher.

If the GOP wants to give itself a major advantage in 2014, they should announce a new initiative, starting with an inner city and outstate listening tour. Focus should be on dissatisfied minorities and disgruntled suburbanites who aren’t satisfied with the DFL’s status quo throw-more-money-into-a-failed-system approach to education. By listening to dissatisfied people, by stating that the MNGOP’s goal is to improve teacher quality, by touting a parents- and students-first agenda, the DFL would be left in the dust defending a failed system.

Each week, different proof appears that the DFL is intent on eliminating the GOP’s reforms. Months ago, I wrote about the DFL’s attack on teacher accountability, aka HF0171. HF0171 would repeal the basic skills test for teachers that Gov. Dayton signed last year. This week, I wrote about the DFL’s attempt to eliminate the Sunset Advisory Commission.

If the DFL would put forward a good faith effort on reforming government, the Commission would be a great tool for increasing government accountability. In some instances, the Commission would force agencies to justify their existence. In other cases, it would force the agency to justify their staffing and funding levels.

First, why won’t the DFL explain who wrote the bill that would eliminate the basic skills test for teachers? Requiring teachers and applicants to pass such a test isn’t revolutionary. It’s sensible. Why, then, did the DFL write legislation that would eliminate that requirement? They aren’t doing it “for the children” because they’re the first people it’d shortchange. Their parents and other taxpayers are the next people this legislation would shortchange.

It isn’t a stretch to think that EdMinn wrote this legislation because it’s their job to protect union members. If EdMinn wrote that legislation, why isn’t Rep. Ward representing his constituents, not EdMinn? Perhaps Rep. Ward thinks that EdMinn is his constituent and that he doesn’t have to represent the people living in his district.

Second, why is the DFL insisting on eliminating a great tool for increasing government accountability and transparency? Without the Sunset Commission, government oversight doesn’t exist. As recently as last year, the DFL threw a hissy fit when Republicans sought to make government more efficient. They accused the GOP of “waging war against working families.” Eliot Seide held a press availability in which he got exceptionally agitated.

He talked about how Republicans hated “working families” because they questioned whether state agencies, commissions, councils and panels had outlived their usefulness or had expanded themselves beyond their original charter. The Commission’s purpose was to examine these entities, then tell the legislature whether they were still doing what they were created to do and whether that mission was still important.

We know that the DFL doesn’t believe in oversight because they rejected that notion in 2007. That’s when they insisted that spending should be adjusted for inflation. In the DFL’s thinking, once an appropriation is made, it should increase by the rate of inflation in the future.

Another GOP reform required the Minnesota Department of Revenue to factor federal taxes into their annual tax incidence report. Minnesota is one of a tiny handful of states that didn’t do that. Gov. Dayton signed that legislation into law. Now he’s signed it out of existence after the DFL legislature voted to repeal that requirement.

This year’s report had been prepared but it hadn’t been released. That report included federal taxes. The DFL moved quickly, eliminating the federal taxes requirement. The new tax incidence report doesn’t include federal taxes. First, the new report doesn’t give an accurate picture of Minnesota’s taxes. Second, it means that all the time that went into preparing the first report was for nothing.

Is that the type of government efficiency Minnesotans deserve? I’d argue it isn’t. I’d argue that that’s the type of waste that must be eliminated.

While we’re on the subject of taxes, let’s talk about the fact that the DFL isn’t committed to a progressive tax system. I’ll stipulate that they’re great advocates of progressive taxation during campaigns. That’s as far as it goes, though. Then-Candidate Dayton argued passionately for a more progressive taxation system during his campaign. In 2010, he criticized Tom Horner for supporting increases to the alcohol and cigarette taxes:

you’re in favor of raising taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, another regressive tax. So the difference between us is I want to raise taxes on the rich, and you want to raise taxes on sportsmen and women and and middle income working families.

This year, Gov. Dayton’s objections to increasing taxes on alcohol and cigarettes disappeared, most likely because he needs the revenues to increase the size and intrusiveness of state government.

Tags: Mark Dayton, Tax Incidence Report, Minnesota Department of Revenue, Tax Increases, Cigarette Tax, Liquor Tax, Tom Horner, K-12 Education, John Ward, Education Minnesota, DFL, Sunset Advisory Commission, King Banaian, Keith Downey, Pat Garofalo, Accountability, Reforms, MNGOP

DFL legislators voted to bail out the pension funds for Duluth and St. Paul school teachers:

Commission chair Sen. Sandra Pappas, DFL-Minneapolis, noted that the statewide TRA would require Duluth and St. Paul plans to be fully funded before any merger. “This is a kind of shared-pain approach,” Pappas said of the St. Paul proposal. “If we’re thinking merger is down the road, bringing benefits in line with TRA and putting some cash into the fund is probably a good move.”

That’s BS. The DFL’s bill isn’t tough love. It’s caving. In 2010, the Duluth pension plan agreed that they wouldn’t get a COLA until their pensions were at least 80% funded. This bill gives Duluth pensioners a 1% annual COLA even though their fund is only 63% funded. In short, the DFL legislature’s definition of tough love is to bail out the Duluth pension fund, then throw in an annual COLA as a bonus.

The fact that the Duluth pension fund is only 63% funded is disgusting. The payouts promised must’ve really been steep. It’s a given that their pensions funds took a hit during the Great Recession. Everyone’s did. Duluth is the only Minnesota pension fund I’ve heard of that’s that badly underfunded.

If this continues, Duluth will be the new Stockton, Calif. In fact, the corruption and financial mismanagement in Duluth is bad enough that they probably could declare bankruptcy.

The worst part about the vote on this bill is that it was rushed through so that they could attend the annual Ranger Party at a famous watering hole near the Capitol. The Ranger Party is considered a can’t miss mixer where “the drinks and other people’s money flows freely.”

Unfortunately for the taxpayers, these DFL legislators are more committed to raising cash for their next campaign than they’re worried about being the taxpayers’ watchdog.

When the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the school voucher program signed by then-Gov. Mitch Daniels was constitutional, it marked another victory in the school choice movement. The implications of their ruling is sure to be felt for generations:

A limited choice program is not the same thing as a healthy, responsive educational market. “A rule-laden, risk-averse sector,” argues Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, “dominated by entrenched bureaucracies, industrial-style collective-bargaining agreements and hoary colleges of education will not casually remake itself just because students have the right to switch schools.”

But even restricted choice programs have shown promising results, not revolutionary, but promising. Last year, a group of nine educational researchers summarized the evidence: “Among voucher programs, random-assignment studies generally find modest improvements in reading or math scores, or both. Achievement gains are typically small in each year, but cumulative over time. Graduation rates have been studied less often, but the available evidence indicates a substantial positive impact. … Other research questions regarding voucher program participants have included student safety, parent satisfaction, racial integration, services for students with disabilities, and outcomes related to civic participation and values. Results from these studies are consistently positive.”

Unions are fighting a losing fight. It isn’t a matter of whether they’ll lose this fight over accountability and competition. It’s just a matter of when they’ll lose the final battle in this fight. The results aren’t stunning if viewed from a single snapshot in history. However, they’re quite dramatic if viewed through a series of snapshots over a period of 5 years.

The beauty of the voucher movement going into the future is that it doesn’t require the elimination of public education. For instance, suburban, exurban and rural schools often perform well. Where the performance is solid, there’s no need to scrap what’s working.

This paragraph explains why this fight will eventually be won by parents and studentss, not the unions, politicians and bureaucrats:

Yet it is probably not the moral arguments that will prevail. The opponents of educational choice are attempting to defend the monopoly of the neighborhood school in a nation where most monopolies and oligopolies (see the phone company, the post office or newspapers) have come under pressure. Parents, including suburban parents, increasingly expect educational options such as charters, home schooling, magnet programs and career academies. Customized, online learning will accelerate the trend.

It’s a matter of when, not if. Competition will improve product quality while driving down costs. That’s what happens whenever competition is the rule, not the exception. Politically speaking, there’s great incentive for Republicans to jump onto this movement. It’s a way for them to prove to minority communities that they want to help these communities achieve American prosperity.

Once the gates to prosperity open to these communities, the paradigm shifts. That’s when a lasting victory will have happened.

Tags: School Choice, Mitch Daniels, Indiana Supreme Court, SCOTUS, Bobby Jindal, Competition, Accountability, Magnet Schools, Charter Schools, Free Markets, Milton Friedman, Conservatism, Unions, Bureaucrats, Democrats

When Gov. Dayton unveiled his latest budget, DFL leaders praised him for proposing an honest budget that funds the DFL’s special interest allies’ priorities:

DFL legislative leaders praised Dayton for proposing an honest budget that restores fiscal stability and funds most of their priorities, but they stopped short of endorsing the particulars.

Friday night, Carrie Lucking, ABM’s executive director, sang from the same hymnal, praising Gov. Dayton’s honest budget and his “bold investment in education.” Later, when pressed by Ben Golnik on Gov. Dayton’s taxes on couples making $250,000 or singles making $150,000, Ms. Lucking threw a hissy fit about how corporations aren’t paying their fair share.

During the budget fight, Republicans would be well-advised to look for euphemisms like bold investments in education, honest budgets and evil corporations as justifications for increasing individual income taxes while ignoring Gov. Dayton’s willingness to stiff school districts out of $1,252,000,000 owed through school shifts from the Pogemiller Senate and Kelliher House.

One thing they’ll certainly avoid talking about is Rep. John Ward’s bill that would gut teacher accountability. Here’s the description of the bill:

K-12 teachers; requirement repealed for teachers to pass a basic skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics as a condition for receiving a teaching license.

The DFL purports to be the education party. Why would they propose a bill that would let unqualified teachers get their teaching licenses? This isn’t an imaginary problem either:

My district — Sauk Rapid-Rice — has 37 teachers with certification waivers or variances, including four certified for elementary education teaching secondary math and science. Their college-level course work did not include geometry, trigonometry or even college algebra.

In other words, people should question the DFL when they praise Gov. Dayton’s “bold investments in education” or when they ignore paying off the school shift, then praise Gov. Dayton for his proposing an honest budget. The DFL, with plenty of help from school boards, criticized the GOP, saying that the GOP’s school shift was a “budget gimmick.” Now that Gov. Dayton isn’t paying off the school shift, those school boards are silent.

Ms. Lucking’s inadvertant reference to corporations not paying their fair shair while talking about Gov. Dayton’s proposed tax increase on “the rich” is telling, too. Gov. Dayton proposed cutting the corporate income tax rate. Gov. Dayton proposed creating a new tax bracket with a rate of 9.85%.

There’s little question that the phrase “corporations not paying their fair share” tests well in focus groups. That’s why Ms. Lucking used that phrase when she was caught in a difficult situation. People who didn’t pay attention didn’t notice that Gov. Dayton proposed raising income taxes on small businesses, not corporations.

These are just some examples of the DFL’s/ABM’s empty words machine. The DFL has spent millions of dollars on focus group testing to find words that sound good in public. It’s a shame they didn’t spend that money on finding which policies actually create jobs or increase individual prosperity.

Finally, what kind of political party stiffs school districts out of hundreds of millions of dollars, proposes gutting teacher accountability while raising taxes on hard-working entrepreneurs?

Tags: Mark Dayton, Carrie Lucking, John Ward, Teacher Accountability, Teacher Licensure, School Shift Tax the Rich, Tax Increases, Income Taxes, Education Minnesota, Special Interests, DFL

On this morning’s At Issue With Tom Hauser, Hauser played a clip of Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen and ABM’s Carrie Lucking talking about Gov. Dayton’s “bold investment in education.” Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen and Ms. Lucking recited their spin with the most professional of poker faces.

The reality is that Gov. Dayton, for the second time in two years, agreed to stiff school districts out of $1,252,000,000. This time, he’s proposed to delay paying back the school shift until 2017. What’s worse is that the DFL legislature has agreed with Gov. Dayton. They’ve agreed that they shouldn’t pay off the shift until the distant future.

What’s worst about the DFL’s “bold investment in education” is that the DFL has proposed gutting teacher accountability by repealing the basic skills test for teachers. Rep. Ward submitted HF0171, which would repeal the Basic Skills Test that the GOP legislature passed and Gov. Dayton signed in 2012.

Rep. Ward supposedly submitted this bill because some teachers are having difficulty passing this test. Rather than insisting on more qualified math and science teachers, Rep. Ward apparently thinks the ‘solution’ is to make it impossible for teachers to not get licensed.

Putting this into simple summary form, the DFL is stiffing school districts out of a billion dollars while attempting to make it easier for unqualified teachers to get licensed.

I’m willing to bet that most parents wouldn’t call that a “bold investment in education.” I’d bet they’d call that selling out to the DFL’s special interest allies in Education Minnesota. I’m betting they’d say, convincingly, that Gov. Dayton, Speaker Thissen and Ms. Lucking listen more attentively to Tom Dooher than they listen to parents.

I’m betting they’d be spot on with their opinion.

Tags: Mark Dayton, Paul Thissen, Carrie Lucking, School Shift, Basic Skills Test, John Ward, Tom Dooher, Education Minnesota, Special Interests, DFL, Reforms, Teacher Accountability, MNGOP

Carrie Lucking is the executive director of the ABM. One of her responsibilities is to sell Gov. Dayton’s budget regardless of how unpopular it is with Minnesotans. During an Almanac debate with Ben Golnik, the president of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, Ms. Lucking got her talking points mixed up. At one point, she was arguing against herself.

During her rant about raising taxes, Ms. Lucking started whining that “evil corporations” weren’t paying their fair share in income taxes. She praised Gov. Dayton’s 2-point income tax increase as a step in the right direction.

Admittedly, Ms. Lucking isn’t the brightest bulb in the DFL’s chandelier. Corporations don’t pay income taxes based on the individual income tax rates. In fact, Gov. Dayton’s Mulligan Budget proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 8.4%, a cut of over a point. Does Ms. Lucking think that cutting taxes on “evil corporations” is a step in the right direction?

The top individual income tax bracket would apply to small businesses, not corporations. Successful small business owners frequently work 60-70 hours a week. They first meet their payroll while complying with mountains of city, state and federal regulations. That’s a daunting task at minimum. That’s before they see a dime of profit. These are the people that Ms. Lucking thinks aren’t paying their fair share.

At another point, Ms. Lucking talked about how Gov. Dayton’s revised budget (he can’t seem to get that first budget right) made bold investments in education. Again, Ms. Lucking seemed more interested in the DFL/ABM talking points than in reality. The reality is that Gov. Dayton has had a pair of opportunities to pay off the school shift.

The first opportunity came when the GOP legislature passed a bill in 2012 to pay off the school shift. Gov. Dayton immediately vetoed that bill. Gov. Dayton had another opportunity to pay off the school shift as part of this year’s budget. Instead of paying the shift off, Gov. Dayton chose to stiff school districts to the tune of $1,252,000,000 (that’s $1.25 billion) until 2017.

Gov. Dayton’s “bold investments” in E-12 education are predicated on stiffing school districts. That isn’t bold. According to the DFL’s definition, Gov. Dayton’s education budget is predicated on gimmickry.

At another point, Ms. Lucking said that Gov. Dayton’s dropping of the sales tax and other tax increases proved that he’s willing to listen to his opponents. That ignores the fact that Myron Frans, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Revenue, spent 18 months travelling the state, supposedly listening to business leaders, to put together Gov. Dayton’s tax reform proposal.

Commissioner Frans either didn’t listen to business leaders or the tax increase activists within the DFL and ABM overruled him. Either way, Gov. Dayton put a high priority on listening to his special interest allies than he put on listening to Minnesota’s job creators.

Ms. Lucking’s appearance showed she isn’t ready for primetime. Meanwhile, Mr. Golnik made one argument after another refuting the ABM/DFL talking points. He highlighted the fact that opposition to Gov. Dayton’s tax increase agenda was a bipartisan thing. Mr. Golnik highlighted the fact that significant numbers of DFL legislators opposed those crippling tax increases.

Ultimately, that’s why Gov. Dayton dropped most of his tax increase proposals as quickly as he did. Ms. Lucking’s spin can’t change that irrefutable fact.

Tags: Carrie Lucking, ABM, Spin, Education Shift, Mark Dayton, Investment, Regressive Tax Increases, Sales Tax, Corporations, Income Taxes, Small Businesses, Myron Frans, Minnesota Department of Revenue, Tax Reform, Special Interests, DFL, Ben Golnik, Minnesota Jobs Coalition

According to this propaganda piece, “Governor Dayton’s budget makes major investments in education.” I noted here that Gov. Dayton and the DFL doesn’t repay the school shift passed during the Kelliher-Pogemiller majorities:

According to the last page of MMB’s document, Minnesota a) still owes $1,252,000,000 on the school shift and b) won’t repay a penny of that shift until the 2016-2017 biennium.

During the 2012 campaign, DFL candidates railed against the GOP for using gimmickry to balance the budget, frequently citing the school shift in their argument. The DFL ‘leadership’ praised Gov. Dayton’s “honest budget” when he proposed his now-infamous Mulligan Budget.

Gov. Dayton’s “honest budget” included tax increases on babysitters and kids who mowed lawns and shovelled snow. Presumably, Gov. Dayton thought that wasn’t a gimmick.

Here’s a question for the DFL praetorian guard media stiffs: how can Gov. Dayton make “major investments in education” when he’s stiffing school districts out of $1,252,000,000 they’ve been owed since 2010? Here’s another question Gov. Dayton hasn’t answered: how can Gov. Dayton make “major investments in education” while stiffing school districts of over a billion dollars that the GOP wanted to repay?

Let’s recall that the GOP wanted to pay off all of the school shifts in 2012 but Gov. Dayton vetoed the bill.

According to Dayton’s latest propaganda sheet, he’s ‘investing’ “$344 million for E-­?12 education.” Considering the fact that he isn’t repaying the school shift of $1,252,000,000, that means he’s stiffing E-12 education out of $908,000,000 until the 2016-2017 biennium.

Simply put, Gov. Dayton is stiffing school districts while pretending he’s investing educational excellence. How can he pretend he’s the ‘education governor’ when the DFL wants to gut a bill he signed last year mandating teachers pass a basic skills test? In Sauk Rapids, 4 high school math teachers don’t have a math degree. The students there are falling behind their grade level in math.

The EdMinn’s DFL’s solution to this crisis? Eliminate the basic skills test so all ‘teachers’ qualify.

That isn’t a solution. That’s a pathetic cave into EdMinn’s demands that teachers be protected even though it means shortchanging the students. That isn’t the path to a better Minnesota. It’s the path to a dumbed down Minnesota.

It’s time that the MNGOP realize that they’d better get engaged in the fight for educational excellence. By continuing to treat school board elections as nonpartisan elections, they’re ceding control of the schools to the DFL and Education Minnesota. School board elections are the most partisan elections of them all. The DFL and their political allies in EdMinn fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo.

Clearly, the DFL’s anti-education, pro-union must stop ASAP. Keeping unqualified teachers in classrooms is disgusting and it’s unacceptable. Stunningly, that’s the DFL’s agenda.

Tags: Mark Dayton, School Shift, Honest Budget, Education Minnesota, Basic Skills Test, John Ward, Mulligan Budget, School Districts, Special Interests, School Districts, Indoctrination, DFL

Based on MMB’s documentation, Gov. Dayton’s Mulligan Budget runs an $8,000,000 surplus.

According to Pg. 2′s statistics, Gov. Dayton’s new tax increases will raise $1,830,000,000 in new revenue while increasing spending by $1,196,000,000. According to MMB’s report, the Dayton/DFL budget will spend $37,946,000,000 while taking in $37,939,000,000, leaving a miniscule $8,000,000 surplus.

Running an $8,000,000 surplus on a $38,000,000,000 budget is cutting things so thin that it’s likely Gov. Dayton’s Mulligan Budget won’t even balance. If there’s a hiccup in Minnesota’s budget, that $8,000,000 surplus will disappear quickly. That’s irresponsible.

More importantly, there isn’t a single reform in Gov. Dayton’s budget. That means all the political payoffs to political allies are still in Gov. Dayton’s Mulligan Budget. That means Gov. Dayton puts a higher priority on satisfying his political allies than he’s putting on protecting Minnesota’s taxpayers.

According to the last page of MMB’s document, Minnesota a) still owes $1,252,000,000 on the school shift and b) won’t repay a penny of that shift until the 2016-2017 biennium. That’s what happens when the state runs an almost nonexistent $8,000,000 ‘surplus’. Remember that Republicans passed a bill in 2012 that would’ve paid off the entire school shift but Gov. Dayton vetoed the bill.

That’s the height of irresponsibility by the DFL and Gov. Dayton. Notice, though, that school district administrators aren’t saying a thing about Gov. Dayton’s not paying off the school shift. They stayed silent when Gov. proposed a 50-50 school shift in 2011. They screamed like scalded dogs when Republicans proposed a 60-40 school shift.

That’s proof that professional educators are partisan DFL hacks. In their minds, apparently, it’s more important to defeat GOP legislators than it is to pay off the school shift they howled about.

Gov. Dayton’s Mulligan Budget comes close to running a deficit. It raises taxes while refusing to pay off the school shift DFL legislators voted for in 2010. DFL leaders keep talking about Gov. Dayton’s honest budget. That’s BS. It’s a highly irresponsible budget that relies on budget gimmicks like school shifts and major tax increases on job creators.

Tags: Mark Dayton, Tax Increases, School Shift, Tax The Rich, Deficit, DFL