President’s message: Every student. Every public school. Just one vote.
Republican and Democratic legislators have joined together to put on the ballot this fall an amendment to increase funding for every student, in every public school. But it’s up to us, the educators, to pass it into law.
The amendment would increase payments to public schools from the Permanent School Fund without raising taxes on anyone. Since the state’s founding in 1858, the fund has grown to $2.3 billion through timber sales, mineral leases and investment returns, but the constitution limits how much of that growth schools can receive each year.
The change would pay out more money while responsibly managing the fund for future generations. It won’t fix all the financial challenges facing schools, but it will provide millions of dollars in new money for public education, reflecting something Minnesotans already know: every student, in every classroom, deserves the chance to graduate and pursue their dreams.
Right now, the constitution only permits the fund’s interest and dividends to go to schools each year, near 2% to 2.5% of its value, or $58 million last year. The amendment would raise that to 4.5% of the fund’s three-year average value, the rate a bipartisan task force recommended after studying university endowments. It is projected to increase school payments by 40%.
The House passed this without a single dissenting vote, and the Senate passed it as well. That bipartisan spirit extends beyond the Legislature: Education Minnesota stands with the Minnesota School Boards Association, the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, the Minnesota Rural Education Association and other groups representing school boards and administrators. This group does not always speak with one voice, but this issue is unifying and simple: more money for classrooms, no cost to taxpayers.
But we can’t oversell the benefits. Minnesota’s main funding formula already provides about $7,480 per student. If this amendment happened last year, the change would have added roughly $28 more per student across the state’s 850,000 public school students. That’s real money, but less than 1% of per-pupil spending.
This amendment won’t close the special education funding gap districts have carried, nor offset potential federal cuts to education, nor stop spiraling health care costs. Many districts will still need local levies this fall. But the amendment will create a modest, dependable increase in school funding that our schools need.
A statewide poll of 600Â likely voters, conducted in late June by Voss Research and Strategy, found two- thirds of Minnesotans support the amendment, 66% yes to 22% no. The same research found public- school educators are among the most trusted voices on this question, ahead of any elected official or organization.
I ask every member to vote yes, and to have that conversation. Then remember the ballot’s mechanics: under Minnesota law, skipping this question counts as a no vote. Read to the bottom, flip the ballot, and fill in the circle. Flip and fill.
Consider what follows this election when the Legislature returns in 2027. The legislators can see a big win as a mandate that Minnesotans want to increase school funding. A loss says the voters had the chance to invest more in their schools, and said no. Our opponents would repeat that for years.
We do not often get the chance to increase school funding without asking anyone to pay more or see this much agreement across party lines. This November, we have both. Vote yes on the constitutional amendment.
Together,
Monica Byron
Education Minnesota President
