The system is already working the way Gov.

Wednesday, August 22, 2001

The system is already working the way Gov. Jesse Ventura wanted it to. It is in Albert Lea, anyway.

When the governor worked to slash taxes, reform the way schools are funded and limit increases in spending, he hastened the Albert Lea School District’s descent into financial neediness.

Limp increases in state funding were a factor – along with a continued trend of lower enrollment – in the school board’s decision to consider an excess-levy referendum this year. It needs the extra money to avoid or lessen budget cuts next year.

Ventura has said that he thinks the state should pay a certain portion of the expenses for services like schools, and that if local taxpayers want to shell out more, they’re free to do so.

But he has also told residents to watch out for local officials who try to pass off tax increases in the wake of historic property-tax reform and rate cuts.

That’s what the school district will likely do this fall: Try to pass a tax increase. If it ends up on the ballot and passes, Ventura’s vision will be in place here. State taxes will be lower, but a local decision will authorize local taxes to go up and partly offset the decrease.

The problem with leaving the taxing decisions up to local voters is that if a district in need cannot convince its community to impose the tax, its students may stand to suffer. And every student in the state should have an equal chance at a good K-12 education.

Indeed, the Albert Lea School District may need to reevaluate just what the most important parts of a good education are if budget cuts are necessary. In an area with shrinking enrollment, it only makes sense that a school will not be able to offer all the bells and whistles it has in the past. The question is whether the cuts would be skin deep or if they’ll take some muscle and bone.