Dayton, DFL legislators reversed trend of dwindling support for schools

October 29, 2014 by

UA layout_UA layoutJeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected Nov. 4. So what is it about Walker’s Wisconsin that Johnson believes is worth replicating?

To answer that question – and to get a sense of what a Johnson administration might mean for union families – we’re analyzing the different approaches taken by Walker and labor-endorsed Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on four key issues over the last four years:

[Related: A governor who will ‘go all Scott Walker’ on Minnesota? No thanks, unions say.]

Education. In addition to slashing teachers’ benefits and bargaining rights, Walker cut state funding for public school districts in Wisconsin by $834 million in his first year in office. That’s roughly the amount of new funding the state has funneled into public schools during Dayton’s four years in office.

Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary-treasurer of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, called Walker’s first education budget “the largest cut to schools in state history.” With 73 percent school districts in Wisconsin cutting staff or programming as a result of the budget cuts, she added, “our children are paying the price.”

Education Minnesota President Denise Specht, who leads the state’s largest union of school employees, warned that Johnson would lead Minnesota down a similar path.

“Walker has been a disaster for Wisconsin students, so it’s baffling why someone running for office in Minnesota would choose him as a role model,” she said. “Wisconsin is now investing $1,000 less per student than in 2008, which means the Wisconsin workforce will be at a competitive disadvantage for decades.”

Walker also has expanded Wisconsin’s private-school voucher program, which Specht called “out of control.” According to published reports, the voucher program has funneled $139 million from state coffers into failing private schools over the last 10 years – funds that could otherwise have supported public school districts.

Minnesota, meanwhile, is on the opposite path.

As a candidate, Dayton pledged to reverse a decade-long trend of dwindling support for Minnesota’s public schools. With help from pro-worker majorities elected to the Legislature two years ago, he signed bills to repay more than $2 billion borrowed from school districts, reduce class sizes and guarantee statewide access to all-day kindergarten.

That progress is at risk if Johnson is elected governor, Specht said

“If you’re in a working family that cares about the education of your children, there’s something you should know when you hear someone say he wants ‘go all Scott Walker’ on your state,” Specht said. “You should know that is a threat you can’t ignore.”

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Bobby Kasper: Support school levies on Nov. 5 ballot

October 30, 2013 by
Bobby Kasper

Bobby Kasper

Garrison Keillor, the great Minnesota author and radio personality, put it best: “Nothing you do for children is ever wasted.”

At the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, we’re putting Keillor’s words into action, working in support of five levy referendums in East Metro suburbs that have been endorsed by our delegation of 100-plus local unions. No matter where you live, if there’s a school levy question on your ballot Nov. 5, voting “yes” is the right thing to do for Minnesota’s students, teachers and communities.

Earlier this year, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL majorities in the Legislature succeeded in increasing the per-pupil funding formula that provides the majority of funding for our school districts, and the state recently paid back most of the money borrowed from school districts in order to end the Republican-led state government shutdown two years ago. Still, the state funding formula has lagged behind the rate of inflation for decades, and operating levies have been a lifeline for districts looking to maintain their educational offerings.

Project1_Layout 1What’s more, levies equip districts with the tools they need to strengthen their schools in ways that reflect local priorities. In Stillwater, voters will decide whether to approve $16.2 million in annual funding for the community-driven “Bridge to Excellence” plan, as well as initiatives to increase school safety and security. In White Bear Lake, voters will be asked to extend funding for library books, science equipment and technology for teachers and students. Voters in the Chisago Lakes School District have an opportunity to restore programs cut from previous budgets, including art classes and middle-school Spanish classes.

At the Regional Labor Federation, we are proud to support the teachers, parents and community groups working at the grassroots level to pass school levies in Stillwater, White Bear Lake and Chisago Lakes, as well as the Lakeville and Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school districts. We have reached out to union members in these districts, urging them to vote “yes.” We are also working to elect labor-endorsed candidates for school board across the East Metro. These candidates not only will support levy referendums when necessary, but will act as good stewards of funds raised when levies pass.

All children deserve a world-class education. Their futures depend on it, and so does the economic future of our region. The Twin Cities area is known across the world for its educated, highly skilled workforce. It’s a big reason that Minnesota boasts 19 Fortune 500 companies, more than 48 other states. When you vote “yes” on your local school levy referendum, you show your support for kids, for teachers, for attracting the jobs of the future to the region and for maintaining our state’s high quality of life.

– Bobby Kasper is president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, representing more than 100 affiliate unions and their members throughout the East Metro area.

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Labor 2012 Endorsed: Eagan deserves better than Doug Wardlow

October 31, 2012 by

Laurie Halverson is the labor-endorsed candidate in House District 51B.

Laurie Halverson is seeking to unseat Republican Rep. Doug Wardlow in House District 51B (map). For union members in the district, the two candidates should need no further introduction.

In his first term at the Capitol, Wardlow took up anti-worker Right to Work legislation as his personal pet cause, pushing a constitutional amendment on the measure last year even after leaders in his own party had moved on to other business.

It helped earn Wardlow a reputation as his party’s ideological warrior – one Halverson believes is out of step with the community of Eagan that he represents.

“He has taken extreme party-line positions, even extreme for his own party,” Halverson said. “That kind of extremism doesn’t fit our community. Eagan isn’t being represented as we deserve to be.”

A stay-at-home mother, Halverson, whose husband is a member of the Air Line Pilots Association, has taken up various civic causes in Eagan, including service on the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Eagan Foundation, which supports educational opportunities for area students.

She believes her neighbors are less interested in ideology and more concerned about their schools, which she lists as her top priority.

“Borrowing from our schools has had a real impact on students in our community and their families, who pay more and more out of pocket. The school district has had to borrow money for the first time in its history, so instead of paying money into schools, taxpayers are paying interest.

“The people of Eagan are so civically engaged. They’re really involved in this community, and they’re tired of people taking these hard-line positions. They want to see people get the job done.”

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Labor 2012 Endorsed: Life of public service leads Clausen to Senate run

October 30, 2012 by

Greg Clausen is the labor-endorsed candidate in Senate District 57.

Greg Clausen’s calling in life is to be a public servant, and when the Legislature convenes next year, Clausen hopes to be serving the voting public of Senate District 57 (map) at the State Capitol.

“Running for Senate is a continuation of my life’s work,” said Clausen, an Apple Valley resident who has been a fixture in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools for the last 37 years.

During that time Clausen worked as a teacher, coach, athletic director and high school principal. His students, his colleagues and other community members describe Clausen capable, fair-minded and trustworthy leader. “You don’t stay a high school principal for that long without some support,” he joked.

Clausen believes his temperament will serve him well in the Senate. “Throughout my life as an educator, I’ve been able to bring people together for a common cause,” he said. “Reaching out and compromising, understanding other people’s points of view – those are things I’ll bring to the senate.”

Such a balanced approach will be necessary if the Legislature is to find real solutions to the state’s perennial budget mess, Clausen says.

Rather than make tough choices, the last Legislature borrowed $2.4 billion from public schools, forcing districts across the state to borrow money to meet their expenses – spending money on interest to banks rather than in the classroom. Lawmakers also borrowed against the tobacco settlement fund, a move that contributed to a downgrading of the state’s credit rating.

Clausen says quick fixes may be politically expedient, but they only kick the can further down the road.

“We need to look at tax reform, managing our spending, possible budget reductions and new revenue,” he said. “That’s why I’m running – not to push political ideology, but to serve Minnesota and make good decisions on what’s best for our citizens and what’s going to move Minnesota forward.”

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Labor 2012 Endorsed: Carlson, Masin, Morgan eye return to Legislature

October 29, 2012 by

Jim Carlson (top-left), Sandy Masin and Will Morgan are labor-endorsed candidates seeking to return to legislative seats they lost in 2010.

Jim Carlson, Sandy Masin and Will Morgan are hoping voters who bounced them from office two years ago will show buyer’s remorse in 2012.

All three DFLers represented suburban areas south of St. Paul, including Burnsville, Eagan and Lakeville, from 2007 to 2010, but they were swept out of office by a wave of support for “tea party” Republicans two years ago.

What have Republicans accomplished since taking control of the Legislature? One state government shutdown, two divisive constitutional amendments and a $2.4 billion I.O.U. to public school districts.

“Instead of focusing on creating jobs and improving the economy like they promised, they got sidetracked by irrelevant issues, gridlock and shutting down the government,” said Morgan, a high school physics teacher from Burnsville running for House District 56B (map). “None of that helped improve the lives of working Minnesotans.”

Morgan, Carlson and Masin believe voters want a Legislature that will focus on moving Minnesota forward with real solutions – not scoring political points or advancing an extremist ideology.

Masin, a longtime parks advocate and community volunteer in Eagan, says voters in her House District 51A (map) deserve representatives who will act like adults. “We know some of the Republicans were just not willing to compromise at all to do the work of the state,” she said. “That’s the reason for the state shutdown.”

Carlson, a retired mechanical engineer from Eagan, is running against Sen. Ted Daley in District 51 (map). Daley was among the most vocal supporters of so-called Right to Work legislation, a direct attack on workers, collective bargaining rights and the middle class.

Carlson says Daley is taking marching orders from the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, the corporate-backed lobbying group behind right-wing model legislation introduced in statehouses across the country, much of it aimed at stripping protections for middle class workers and their families. “If you go to China or to India, you’ll see what (ALEC) wants: to be able to have the lowest labor rates avail to them.”

Rather than compete in a race to the bottom, Minnesota should be developing an economy prepared to compete for the best jobs of the future – and that means making investments in K-12 and post-secondary education, keeping our infrastructure sound and preserving our high quality of life.

Masin agrees: “If we want to maintain our businesses and attract businesses, they need to know we have a workforce that is well educated.”

Morgan, meanwhile, isn’t shy about telling union members what’s at stake in this election. If Republicans maintain control of the Legislature, he predicts Minnesota will have a Right to Work constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2014 – legislation that would “turn Minnesota into a cold Mississippi.”

“We need to make sure our economic future is sound to bring prosperity to all,” Morgan added. “It starts with a strong middle class, and that starts with good schools and making sure working folks have a voice regarding their working conditions, wages and benefits.”

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