David Prescott may be stepping down in six months, but with Minnesota governments facing a financial crisis and a new president taking office in just over a month, the Albert Lea Area Schools superintendent is keeping his eyes on what’s happening outside the district.

Minnesota’s pending budget deficit over the next two years has gotten his attention, because it could affect Albert Lea and other area districts soon. What a divided state government will do is uncertain.

If the state decides to cut the already promised school funding due at the end of the year to make up the difference, the district can offset the loss through a loan, paid back when the state provides the money later — if the state provides the money. If the cut is permanent, then bad things could happen locally. Like school officials around the state, Prescott said he’s just going to have to wait and see what happens this month.

At the state level, the estimated deficit for the next two years has strengthened calls for reform of school funding, and that’s where Prescott’s concerns are focused. At least one of the current proposals creates a system in which metro schools would receive more money than schools in Greater Minnesota. Prescott doesn’t think that’s fair to students, though he understands the reasons behind the proposals. It costs more to live in some of those metro areas, he said. It’s not helpful when teachers can’t afford to live in the communities where they work. But he doesn’t like that the proposed funding formula creates a funding imbalance.

Another possibility Prescott foresees is the cancellation of the Q Comp program. Promoted by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, it created an alternative way for districts to structure teacher compensation. According to Prescott, Albert Lea is one of only 47 schools districts and charter schools statewide to be accepted. “The elimination of the program would mean a loss of funding for us,” he said.

At the national level, like educators everywhere, Prescott hopes that a new administration will bring changes to the No Child Left Behind mandates that have flowed out of Washington since 2002. Students in Albert Lea’s schools face a global market for goods and services, and Prescott believes that national governments do need to play a role in education. He believes that NCLB as a national education policy has noble goals, but the policies it enforces are not always based on science, particularly when the emphasis seems to be on punitive, rather than supportive responses.

Prescott, along with school board members, other administrators and teachers in the district have had to balance NLCB policies with a local educational plan called the District 241 Decision Screen. It’s difficult for district educators, Prescott says, when the NLCB contradicts the district’s own policies about learning and teaching. “They provide about 10 percent of the district’s funding, but control 100 percent of what we do,” he said.