La Crescent, MN (WXOW)-- A pair of Minnesota state representatives participated in an education forum at La Crescent elementary school today. About 25 people filled the library as democrat Gene Pelowski, Jr. and republican Greg Davids talked schools.
Topics addressed, included funding and a possible change in the number of school districts in Minnesota. Pelowski says he'd like to see fewer.
But when discussion turned to K-12 funding, Pelowski and Davids didn't see eye to eye.
"Now we have, as of the November forecast, an 876-million dollar surplus, so that's very good news for the state of Minnesota," Davids said. "And for 2012 and 2013, we put record amounts of new money on the base formula for smaller schools."
But Pelowski says it's not new money the schools are getting. He says the state put 40 percent of the K-12 budget towards paying off its deficit and schools took out loans as a result. Pelowski says the money schools are now getting is meant to help with those loans.
"In the so-called resolution of the budget, Governor Dayton said that since the districts are going to have to borrow, because we're going to delay payment to them in the shift, we should give them some cover so they can go to the bank and pay for what they're borrowing. To me, that's not new money," Pelowski said.
