Educators, families, students unite behind St. Paul levy campaign

October 24, 2025 by

Victor Xiong, a student at Central Senior High, speaks to volunteers at the Yes for SPPS campaign’s kickoff doorknock.

Voters will decide the fate of a $37.2 million levy request from the St. Paul Public Schools this fall, and the stakes are too high – for students, families and the community – to tune out during this quiet election year.

That’s the message educators, students and school board members delivered during a rally to kick off the Vote Yes for SPPS campaign last month. And volunteers have been delivering it to voters across the district, door by door, in the weeks since then.

“We know that our public schools are the heart of our democracy and our community,” St. Paul Federation of Educators President Leah VanDassor said. “This is the work we need to do, and we’re all in it together.”

The levy referendum is a fork in the road for SPPS. District leaders covered most of a $51.1 million budget shortfall this school year by pulling about $35 million from reserves, but SPPS faces another projected shortfall in 2026-27.

The district is seeking voter approval to increase its operating levy by $1,073 per student for the next 10 years. If it passes, the levy would position SPPS to stabilize its budget, retain and attract quality educators and preserve programming inside and outside the classroom, district leaders say.

But if it fails, the district will need to cut programming and services by $37.2 million before school starts next fall.

Carlo Franco, a member of the district’s Board of Education, said many programs that give students opportunities to “find their passion” – arts, languages, cultural enrichment, athletics and after-school opportunities – will not survive without the new operating levy.

“We have done our best to keep cuts away from the classroom as best we can,” Franco told volunteers at the kickoff rally Sept. 20. “Without an additional $37 million, the reality is we’re going to be looking at some of those programs that are the motivators, the college and career readiness, that we need to make sure our students thrive. That is what’s on the ballot right now.”

Horace Mann science specialist Sarah Bosch, a member of the St. Paul Federation of Educators, offers support for the $37.2 million operating levy request during a “Vote Yes for SPPS” kickoff event.

Cuts leave students ‘heartbroken’

Educators, students and families in the district – and across Minnesota – have dealt with budget cuts before, of course.

Victor Xiong, a Central High School student, remembered learning that his teacher in freshman world history class had lost her job in a round of budget cuts. “I was basically heartbroken,” he said during the rally.

“We can’t cut any more without harming students,” added Sarah Bosch, a science teacher at Horace Mann Elementary, where students lost a reading support specialist this school year.

Staring down a ‘triple financial threat’

Inflation has steadily chipped away at the buying power of school districts like SPPS over the last two decades. SPPS estimates it would have an extra $50 million this school year if state-aid increases had matched inflation rates.

An influx of federal funds during the COVID-19 pandemic helped SPPS cover its budget shortfalls temporarily. Not only have those funding streams dried up, but in July the Trump administration threatened to rescind nearly $7 billion in support for public school districts nationwide, before backing away from the plan in August.

Lagging state aid, loss of COVID relief and federal uncertainty represent a “triple financial threat” to school districts, according to Teresa Mozur, campaign manager for the Vote Yes committee and a SPPS parent.

“Now more than ever, with support eroding at the federal level, we need to protect the things that make Saint Paul Public Schools strong,” Mozur said. “Local funding is the only way we can prevent devastating cuts that will have a direct impact on families, our community and our local economy.”

Labor backs school levies across East Metro

St. Paul isn’t the only school district asking local voters for more funding.

In the Nov. 4 election, school districts in Minnesota have authorized 44 ballot questions seeking additional operating revenue. Another 80 ballot questions ask voters to approve money for construction, renovations, technology and other capital projects.

The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, which brings together over 100 affiliated local unions with over 50,000 members, has endorsed the SPPS levy referendum, as well as levy requests in the following east-metro districts:

Find a full list of labor endorsements in the Nov. 4 election at stpaulunions.org.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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St. Paul school levy gets labor endorsement

September 18, 2025 by

Organized labor is backing the campaign to pass a new operating levy in the St. Paul school district this fall. Administrators and union leaders say the increased funds are necessary to maintain educational programming and avoid steep budget cuts.

Delegates to the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, which unites over 100 affiliate unions in the East Metro, voted Sept. 10 to endorse a “yes” vote on the levy request, which will appear on the ballot Nov. 4.

The St. Paul Federation of Educators, which represents about 4,000 teachers, education assistants and school professionals in the district, also endorsed the levy request, as did AFSCME Council 5, representing nearly 300 school clerical and technical workers.

Labor endorsement means unions will support the community campaign to pass the levy, Yes for St. Paul Public Schools, with both resources and volunteers. SPFE Executive Board member Quentin Ocama, a kindergarten teacher at Maxfield Elementary and SPPS graduate, is chair of the campaign.

“Labor knows how important strong public education is to our community and our city’s future,” Ocama said.

The campaign will hold a kickoff rally Saturday, Sept. 20 – the day after early voting begins. Organizers also invite volunteers to join regular door knocks and phone banks; learn more at www.yesforspps.com/events.

If passed, the levy referendum would raise $1,073 per student annually for the next 10 years, or about $37.2 million per year in additional revenue for the district. It also includes annual inflationary adjustments.

The new funding stream would help the state’s second-largest school district address a projected annual funding gap of over $50 million per year.

Several factors have contributed to the shortfall. Per-pupil funding from the state, although recently tied to inflation, lagged districts’ rising costs for two decades. Federal pandemic-relief funds helped bridge the gap temporarily, but the Trump administration has threatened to close the Department of Education, putting federal funding streams at risk.

Without an influx of revenue, SPPS leaders warn, the school system will be forced to make steep service cuts at its 69 schools, which serve over 33,000 students.

Erica Schatzlein, SPFE’s lead negotiator in contract talks with the district earlier this year, said those cuts would be “drastic” – and risk gains the union has made over the last decade in bargaining for classroom staffing, mental health services, outreach initiatives and other supports for students and families.

To make those gains, SPFE pushed administrators to dip into the district’s fund balance, arguing cash reserves were larger than necessary. That’s no longer the case, Schatzlein said.

“Now it’s at the bare minimum,” she said. “We didn’t ask them to dip into their fund balance to settle our contract this year because they can’t. We know. We looked at the numbers.

“This is a levy to keep the district stable and strong. We’re looking to the taxpayers of St. Paul to keep us on that track of providing the resources the schools St. Paul students deserve – and we don’t do that lightly.”

Investments in local public schools, St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson said, have a ripple effect throughout the community.

“Union members know that high-quality public schools are a key part of St. Paul’s economic vitality,” she said. “They equip the next generation of workers with the skills to meet employers’ needs. They are essential to the fabric of our community.”

“Strong public schools are necessary for St. Paul to continue to be a place where working families choose to live,” Ocama, the Yes for SPPS chair, said. “Public schools are a vital part of our civil fabric, and they are important so that we can raise the next generation of our city’s residents.”

Visit spps.org/vote to learn more about the levy referendum.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

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