Minnesotans backed more than half of school finance requests

More than half of Minnesota school districts that asked voters to approve operating levies and bond questions to pay for K-12 education costs got the support they were looking for this election cycle. 

“I think our districts made the case” for more local funding, said Kirk Schneidawind, executive director of the Minnesota School Boards Association. “Minnesotans are very, very proud of their local public schools.”

Districts across the state rely on a mix of federal, state and local money to fund school personnel salaries, technology purchases, building upkeep and renovations and other education programming costs. But increasing numbers of districts are turning to local tax dollars to fund larger portions of their budgets. 

This week nearly 100 school funding questions were on Minnesota ballots. Sixty-three percent of those were approved. 

Nearly 70 percent of operating levies passed and 64 percent of capital project questions passed. Fewer bond questions — which tend to be heftier sums of money invested in things like new school buildings — passed with only a 52 percent approval rating. 

The Hopkins school district got a yes from voters on a $140 million plan to update school facilities, add security features, modernize classrooms, improve parking lots and upgrade playground and athletic facilities. 

The state’s second largest district, St. Paul, passed a $37 million operating levy to avoid laying off staff and ending certain education programs. 

Rural Minnesota districts also saw wins. 

In southern Minnesota, the Granada Huntley East Chain School District got voters to approve nearly $9 million to renovate the district’s kitchen as well as its career and technical education facilities. An operating levy also passed there, allowing the district to pay for staffing and programming costs. 

“One of the interesting pieces for me is greater Minnesota,” Schneidawind said. “They actually felt like they had some success yesterday. Generally, it is a more challenging proposition (for rural districts) because of their tax base. But we saw some smaller districts be successful in addition to the Metro districts.”

Money for school board seats

Dozens of school board seats were also up for grabs on election night Tuesday. Statewide, 21 school districts held regular elections and 12 had special elections to replace board members who vacated their seats before the end of their terms. 

In the Anoka-Hennepin school district, the largest in the state, union and political donors including a Virginia-based conservative PAC poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into trying to flip control of the school board. 

Three candidates with endorsements from their state and local teachers union competed against three candidates with backing from the conservative Minnesota Parents Alliance. 

One voter in the district, Karen Bastian, said she was surprised at the amount invested in the races.

“I want to take care of our teachers, I want to bring class sizes down, I want to invest in the right things and that’s subjective,” Bastion said. “But to me the right things are making sure we’re taking care of the people who care for kids and also not expecting them to be parents.”

Despite the infusion of cash, and floods of mailers and yard signs, the incumbents in that district — one from the conservative slate and one from the union-backed slate — retained their seats. 

“It was interesting to see the amount of money that was pumped into that election and without any big changes,” Schneidawind said. “Generally, when there's a great deal of trust that exists between the candidates and their voters, I think voters can see that and feel that.”

MPR News producer Ngoc Bui and All Things Considered host Clay Masters contributed to this report.

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