In a deal hammered out by a bipartisan group of political leaders earlier this month, state funding for services to nonpublic students will be preserved after Gov. Tim Walz threatened to eliminate that funding at the beginning of the year.
Earlier this month, Republicans and Democrats in the Minnesota Legislature passed a compromise K-12 spending bill that was ultimately signed into law by Walz.
That compromise bill preserves tens of millions of dollars Minnesota spends every year on transportation services, textbooks, and school counseling for nonpublic students. Facing a then-$6 billion state budget deficit, Walz had proposed eliminating this spending.
In response, hundreds of students, staff, parents and supporters of private schools either testified or rallied at the State Capitol this session to publicly object to Walz’s proposal to eliminate aid to nonpublic students.
Those advocates who rallied to save this funding “helped ensure that all students continue to receive the essential resources they need to thrive,” the Minnesota Catholic Conference said in a statement following completion of the state budget.
The Minnesota Family Council (MFC) and the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators (MACHE) also advocated against eliminating the nonpublic student aid.
While many states provide funding for nonpublic pupil aid, Minnesota was one of the first to do so. Transportation funding for private schools was approved by the legislature in 1969, and additional nonpublic pupil aid was solidified into statute in 1975.
With the Minnesota House of Representatives evenly split between the two parties (67-67), and a one-vote DFL majority in the Minnesota Senate, Republicans were adamant that they would not agree to nonpublic student aid cuts during budget negotiations.
In addition to preserving the nonpublic student aid funding, legislators voted to increase K-12 funding by $25 million over the next two years, but a $420 million cut will occur in the following two years after that to address the state’s looming deficit.
Overall, K-12 funding in Minnesota makes up roughly 34 percent of the state’s budget and is the largest budget area.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
