On Friday, Feb. 2, more than 150 AMSD members — superintendents, school board members and district staff — welcomed more than two dozen state legislators and Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Willie Jett to AMSD’s annual Legislative Session Preview.

All three presenters thanked legislators for the significant investments approved in the 2023 session. They especially expressed gratitude for the important progress made to add stability to the funding system including linking the formula to inflation, allowing school boards to renew an operating referendum, and reducing the shortfalls in the special education and English learner programs. At the same time, they noted that historic inflation, staffing shortages, and new programs and requirements adopted in the 2023 session continue to squeeze school districts’ budgets.

Chair Hill offered the analogy of how balancing a household budget is not significantly different than meeting a district budget’s bottom line — and how increased expenses and the loss of revenue — such as the end of federal pandemic relief fund- ing — has left many school districts facing significant challenges. While the federal funding is coming to an end, there is still tremendous work to do to help students recover from the pandemic.

All three presenters stressed the importance of continuing to stabilize the education funding system by:

• Establishing reliable and ongoing funding for the new programs and requirements approved in the 2023 session;
• Restoring the purchasing power of local optional revenue and linking it to the formula;
• Making compensatory hold-harmless funding permanent; and
• Restoring inherent managerial rights.

Superintendents Putnam and Berg echoed Chair Hill’s themes, each sharing a local perspective — and the challenges of balancing a budget while also facing nonnegotiable costs such as utilities, transportation, and contractual obligations.