Minnesota voters backed school board incumbents, shied away from tax hikes to fund schools

Minnesotans this week elected hundreds of school board members and approved a constitutional amendment to increase school funding, while rejecting most school funding requests that would have raised property taxes.

More than 60 school districts asked voters to approve tax increases to fund day-to-day school operations, building maintenance and building projects. But according to the Minnesota School Boards Association, which tracks referendum results, fewer than half of school funding requests passed this election.

“I just think the pocketbook issues, the economic issues in communities are being felt in many different ways,” said Minnesota School Boards Association Executive Director Kirk Schneidawind.

“People have an opportunity to share their voice through the ballot and I think they perhaps shared the economic conditions they’re feeling,” Schneidawind added.

Only 30 percent of operating referendums, 36 percent of bond requests and 42 percent of capital project requests passed in Minnesota this year. Those passage numbers are far lower than last year when voters approved nearly 70 percent of operating referendums, 53 percent of bond and 63 percent of capital project requests.

Metro area voters were more likely to pass funding and tax hike requests for schools than voters in Greater Minnesota. Schneidawind believes this is due to the ways in which property tax burdens are spread in rural and metro districts.

“Our communities in Greater Minnesota just don’t have the large commercial and industrial tax base in comparison to the metropolitan area and that matters,” Schneidawind said.

‘Pocketbook issues’

In Brainerd, voters rejected an operating levy that would have given the district $5 million in funding for day-to-day school expenses every year for the next 10 years.

Fifty-six percent of Brainerd voters opposed the property tax hike, which would have amounted to about $11 per month on a $375,000 home. Pequot Lakes voters also defeated a proposal to increase their district’s operating levy.

In the fast-growing Elk River Area School District, 55 percent of voters rejected a referendum meant to address growing enrollment, the need for additional space and security improvements.

The two-part ballot question included up to $350 million in general obligation bonds to build a new high school and a school serving children from early childhood through eighth grade in Otsego. It also included a capital project levy that would have raised about $90 million over 10 years for building and technology expenses.

“Going back to the pocketbook issues, right? If you’re a homeowner in Greater Minnesota and feeling the pinch with diesel prices, cost of living, etcetera? Yeah,” Schneidawind added.

Voters in Duluth did approve its referendum questions. After several years of having to make cuts, school leaders in that northern Minnesota district say the passage of that two-question referendum will help them avoid another $12 million in cuts over the next two years.

School board incumbents largely won reelection

The majority of Minnesota’s more than 300 districts held school board elections Tuesday, ushering nearly a thousand candidates into new four-year terms, which will start in January.

The state school boards association found that, by far, incumbent candidates were the most likely to win their seats with a nearly 90 percent win rate across the state

The state teacher’s union, Education Minnesota, which tends to back progressive-leaning candidates, and the conservative Minnesota Parents Alliance endorsed dozens of candidates.

Leaders for Education Minnesota said 71 percent of union-backed candidates won their races, while only 43 percent of Minnesota Parents Alliance candidates won seats.

The Minnesota Parents Alliance has not responded to MPR News’ requests for comment or analysis.

But results in local school board races are nuanced. Some candidates got endorsements from both the Minnesota Parents Alliance and their local unions. In three districts where the groups endorsed the same number of candidates, the Minnesota Parents Alliance saw seven wins, and union-backed candidates won three seats.

Since the pandemic, school board races, which are officially nonpartisan, have become increasingly competitive, partisan and expensive. State school board association leaders think that might be one reason that board members are not staying in their seats as long as they have in the past.

In Detroit Lakes, culture wars on the school board have made headlines, but after Tuesday’s election, the political makeup of the board will remain mostly unchanged.

Three seats were up for grabs, and two incumbents, Mary Rotter and Michelle Okeson, both won reelection. Katie Large won the open seat left by board member Sanford Nelson’s decision not to run again.

Both Okeson and Large were endorsed by the conservative Lakes Area Patriots. Large also received an endorsement from the Minnesota Parents Alliance.

The local teachers’ union did not make any endorsements, a decision that local union leader Chuck Moore told MPR News he regretted.

In July, the Detroit Lakes board voted to remove rainbow symbols from schools, prompted by stickers that indicate some classrooms are safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students.

That ban has since been rescinded, but the board is going forward with a broader revision to district policy that bars teachers from displaying unapproved flags and any symbols that promote political or ideological viewpoints.

The two incumbents winning reelection had split views on the proposed policy change. Rotter has opposed it and the rainbow sticker ban, while Okeson has supported both.

The ban has divided the Detroit Lakes community, sparking backlash from many in the LGBTQ+ community. Two parents and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota are currently suing the district over the ban.

None of the winning candidates responded to MPR News’ request for comment.

The results of Tuesday’s race likely preserves the balance of votes on the board’s so-called “rainbow ban.”

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