Rural Education Discussion Continued PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, 20 November 2008 10:47

A few readers commented on my last blog post and I recieved many emails over the past day.  However, one reader put a lot of time into addressing my comparison of rural and metro schools.  I wanted to place it onto the front page because the information is good and some claim I am not comparing apples to apples.  I will comment in the "comment" section later on today.

Gravatar If you look at the state report cards:

http://education.state.mn.us/ReportCard2005/index.do

there is a section for each district that outlines the financial numbers - it is a good place to get an apples to apples comparison. The data includes the averages for the state, both in per-pupil funding, and property taxes per $100,000 of home value.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are not good comparison points - they get more than everyone else. Generally, the suburbs get less per pupil than the state average, and make a large part of it up with local taxes, but overall per pupil spending tends to be lower in the burbs. Local fund-raising to pay for classroom needs also tends to be higher in the burbs - the parents do fundraisers to buy computers for the school, playground equipment, sports equipment, etc.

If you look at the state report cards for 2007:

State average - state aid per pupil: $7489
State average - prop taxes per $100k: $333
State average - total per pupil funding from all sources: $9458 (includes fees, etc)

Minneapolis:
State aid per pupil: $9151
taxes per $100K: $341

Alex:
state aid: 7082
prop tax: 197
(so local taxes are far below the state average)

Bertha:
state aid: 7867
prop tax: 336

Browerville:
state aid 7876
prop tax 210

Eagle Valley:
state aid: 7978
prop tax 317

LPGE
state aid 7978
prop tax 415

Edina
state aid 6739
prop tax 347

Farmington
state aid 6922
prop tax 465

Lakeville
state aid 6911
prop tax 419


There is a lot of very interesting data there - about the various sources of the state money, comparisons for fees, operating costs, etc.

The point is, comparing yourself to Minneapolis, and saying the formula is unfair to rural areas is not very accurate. Most of the metro school districts get LESS from the state than the average - many get $1000 less per pupil. Rural districts tend to be fairly close to the state average in state aid, and sometimes well below the state average on local property taxes.

 
 
Unfair Funding In Minnesota Education PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 18 November 2008 11:44

The Minnesota Miracle has a catchy title and sounds great.  In fact, it has some positive aspects to it.  I thought this would be a good update on the issue of rural education funding because the new legislative session starts soon.

The "Minnesota Miracle" has a key problem in my opinion.  First, and most important, the Minnesota Miracle changes the multipliers for the rural regional centers so that (as it currently stands) the disparity between a rural and metro schools create a distinct funding disadvantage for non-metro schools.

A rural representative from either party should be fighting for their district to ensure that a child in Eagle Bend, Staples, or Long Prairie gets the same dollars and education as the one in Edina, Minneapolis, or St. Paul.

A break down of what school districts got per pupil from the education bill passed in 2007 should give you an idea of what the Minnesota Miracle is about, and why we need to be concerned and involved:

Minneapolis: $12,804

LP-GE: $8,750

Browerville: $8,171

Eagle Valley: $9,459

Bertha Hewitt: $9,090

Alexandria: $8,403

Food for thought on what we want our education system to look like in the future.
 
Broadband Internet: The Rural Way PDF Print E-mail
Monday, 17 November 2008 10:07

Blog for Rural America: Submitted by Brian Depew on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 11:34.

You are forgiven if you missed an important vote for rural America on November 4th. Another vote overshadowed it a bit.

In addition to an historic presidential vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to authorize the use of unlicensed "white space" for broadband internet development on November 4th. The newly available radio spectrum offers the promise of low-cost, high-speed wireless internet access with the power to stretch over significantly greater distances than previous technologies.

Traditional, short-range Wi-Fi internet signals also use unlicensed spectrum, but reach only a fraction of the distance that studies show can be achieved by transmission on the newly available spectrum.

The unlicensed spectrum will become available after the switch to digital television in early 2009. Because digital television signals take up less spectrum, space between channels previously left vacant will become available for use. The spectrum will serve as a powerful new tool in the effort to bring broadband internet to all of rural America.

Access to high-speed internet in the 21st century is a public necessity similar to access to electricity in the 20th century. High-speed internet is important to new and existing businesses, access to information and even governance, thus it is crucial that we close the broadband access gap in rural America.

Currently, the U.S. ranks 16th worldwide for the percent of citizens with high-speed internet access, and we pay more when we do have access. In rural areas, both access and affordability are significantly worse and too many people are either forced to dial up to get online affordably, or suffer from the high price and unreliability of a satellite connection.

The Center for Rural Affairs was one of 10 rural advocacy organizations that signed a letter (pdf) to the FCC urging them to make unlicensed white space available for broadband development. We hope that the FCC decision will lead to the development of internet technologies that utilize the new spectrum to make faster and less expensive internet connections available to more rural people.
 
Where Rubber Meets The Road In Iraq PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 18 November 2008 00:00

The Washington Post published an article on Sunday entitled: "Iraq Head, Top Cleric Back 2011 Exit By United States"  I thought of all the liberal and anti-war groups that carried Barack Obama through the primaries and ultimately to The Presidency. 

The sixteen month time table from Obama's campaign (below) would not have the United States there through 2011.  I venture to guess the situation on the ground and the advice of the generals will dictate the exit.......... even for Obama. 

The political management of this issue by Obama's administration should be interesting to watch as the radical left keeps close track of their issues.  The 2011 exit date will be a key test of Obama early on.  The honeymoon could be short lived.

 
 
CARPE DIEM: After Taxes, World Series Winner Finishes Second PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, 13 November 2008 13:43

The World Series of Poker ended this week at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and Denmark's Peter Eastgate (pictured above) became the youngest-ever winner of the world title. He is very much the new breed of player: 22 years old, Danish, mathematically brilliant, who gave up a fledgling career in accounting to "turn pro."
 
As the winner of the main event Peter won about $9.2 million, but would he actually end up with all that money?

Denmark's tax rate is 45% on the first 4 million Danish Kroners (about $680,000) and 75% on income above that. Mr. Eastgate will owe about $6.7 million in Danish taxes, and will get to keep only $2.5 million of his winnings—just 27.23% of his prize. In other words, he faces an effective tax rate of 72.77%. Ouch.

Ivan Demidov of Moscow finished second and won $5.8 million. Russia has a 13% flat tax rate, so Mr. Demidov will owe about $755,247 to the State Taxation Service of Russia. After taxes, Ivan will still have more than $5 million, more than twice as much as the first place Danish winner.

MP: This is a no-brainer, Peter should move from Denmark to Moscow.
 
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