The District finally, reluctantly, released the latest losses to open enrollment from Duluth resident students fleeing to outlying school districts.
From the Let Duluth Vote website:
Ten years ago about 150 students from outside Duluth open enrolled into our schools. Each student brought state revenues with them and their own school district’s local levy to help pay for their education in Duluth. The 07-08 figures for Duluth suggested that there was a net outflow of about 343 students from Duluth to other public school districts. “Open enrollment” does not include enrollment into private or parochial or charter schools within ISD 709 or home schooling all of which have been growing alarmingly. According to this summary for the 08-09 school year 417 students have open enrolled out of our District.
In Duluth about 70% of the funding per child comes from state revenues. If we use a figure of about $7,000 per child of state revenue (a very rough guess) that would mean the District lost $3 million dollars to other districts in “state aid.” But about 25% of the money spent to educate these Duluth resident students comes from Duluth school district taxpayers. 417 open enrolled students means that a million dollars raised in Duluth is being spent in other communities. Ten years ago other communities were paying Duluth to educate their children. When the District blames the state for cutting funding they are on very thin ice.
If you put open enrollment in the search box you will find numerous posts over the last school year which have exposed this devastating out migration often accompanied by taunting comments about how I’ve tried but failed to get the Trib to report these student losses. I’ll keep taunting. At least 800 people this month will find out what’s going on in their public schools by reading this blog. The Trib’s subscribers will continue to live in ignorance.
