When the Democratic “trifecta” in control of Minnesota’s House, Senate and governor’s office announced last spring’s K-12 education finance bill, there weren’t enough superlatives in the thesaurus to fuel the sound bites. The in “new” spending on public schools was “historic.” The number of initiatives funded was “sweeping,” the predicted outcomes for students and teachers “.”
Now, district leaders statewide are scrambling to explain to their communities that, in fact, they are facing massive cuts. In many places, balancing the budget will mean layoffs or school closures.
