Education, education, education: That was the theme of the Senate DFL’s 2006-2007 spending package unveiled this week, which delivers much-needed funding increases to schools throughout the state.

The proposal provides budget targets for many state functions such as public safety, health care, agriculture and state agencies. But the highlights of the bill lay within the education budget.

After four years of stagnant funding for schools, and after hearing from thousands of parents, teachers and students about the mounting challenges they face, Senate Democrats said enough is enough.

We are pouring an additional $761 million into statewide education spending at all levels.

The proposal puts $35 million into early childhood education; it fully funds K-12 so class sizes don’t continue to grow; and it invests $40 million in higher education to stop the double-digit tuition increases seen in recent years.

Specifically, the K-12 Education Budget Bill passed out of committee on Thursday will bring significant funding increases to area schools. Without relying on any property-tax increases, the Senate DFL will fully fund Austin, Albert Lea, Alden, Southland, Grand Meadow, Glenville-Emmons, Lyle and LeRoy schools by sending down more than $500-per-student in additional funds for the next two years.

At the beginning of the year, Senate Democrats made a commitment to fund schools at this high level in order to give Minnesota’s children the best education possible.

Of course, that meant making tough choices: Do we be honest with Minnesotans about what it will take to do so, or do we continue the trend of one-time money shifts and gimmicks to simply maintain the stagnant status-quo of school funding?

Rather than relying on politics to make our decision, we relied on people &045; the thousands of people who have come to the Capitol this year to tell us our schools and our kids need more support

&045; to make the important decision to invest in education.

What’s more, we vowed to do something Gov. Pawlenty has not &045; hold the line on property taxes.

Those of us who have seen our property taxes soar in the past two years know all-too-well that the governor’s “no new taxes” pledge has translated into a “property-tax increase” pledge, especially for Greater Minnesota residents. Over the past three years, under Gov. Pawlenty’s watch, local property taxes have increased $1.1 billion.

Senate Democrats do not believe that homeowners alone should be forced to keep our schools running.

We made sure we combined tax fairness and spending accountability &045;

and no property-tax increases &045; to come up with the extra revenue needed to keep class sizes small and educational quality high.

Studies show there is a great return for all money invested in early childhood education. With an emerging global economy now is not the time to let our high school students fall behind, and in order for our state economy to grow, higher education must be affordable to all students.

To do right by our students, parents and teachers, and to ensure an educated workforce that will be the engine of Minnesota’s future economy, investing in education before it’s too late is the right thing to do.

For Senate Democrats, this legislative session is about having an eye on the future and setting Minnesota up for success.

We are going to be honest and straightforward about our priorities and how we plan to fund them.

If you have any questions or comments as the process moves forward, please do not hesitate to contact me.

(Dan Sparks is the District 27 senator from Austin. )