Part II: Plan for Education
1. Hold K–12 education funding harmless in the next biennium.
State general fund spending for FY 2010–11 is set at $13.8 billion. Tom Emmer is committed to ensure that this critical spending of the budget is not reduced.
2. Reprioritize some existing K–12 funding to address critical needs.
Approximately 40% of the state’s general fund spending is for K–12, some changes in priorities can be accomplished without undermining local school districts’ effort.
- Redirect funding from existing state child care and basic sliding fee child care program to early child education in order to ensure all children are ready for kindergarten.
- Create urban school district empowerment zones and reduce state mandates by allowing school districts to have greater authority to operate their districts.
- Reducing state mandates for all school districts.
3. Insist on major reforms to improve classroom instruction and learning.
Minnesotans throughout the state take pride in their local schools, but they also expect more from them. Tom Emmer believes that reform of K–12 education is essential to maintain Minnesotans’ ability to:
- Raise academic standards.
- Ensure accountability for results.
- Reward performance.
- Ensure effective teachers in every classroom.
4. Repay the education funding shift.
If elected Tom Emmer will begin repay the $1.4 billion education shift in FY 2014. By enacting the Emmer Jobs Agenda and putting Minnesotans back to work, the economy will grow and repayment may be triggered more quickly.