Red ink

Stories like this distressing one about Woodland Middle School will probably proliferate. The cramming of students from different schools into buildings that are understaffed will fester and grow as the State uses school district reserves to pay for the State of Minnesota’s financial woes.

Former Governor Arne Carlson, a fiscal realist explained today that the state’s spending is increasing annually at 5.5 % while its revenues are increasing at 4% annually. Think of a wish bone being pulled from both sides by two kids hoping to win the wish.

Dr. Dixon can complain about the State’s not fulfilling its obligations but Dr. Dixon and his School Board have continually failed to prepare for the inevitable. Indeed, they have taken the operational expenses and spent them to balloon the Red Plan spending in order to buy more new infrastructure than the original Red Plan advertised.

When the buildings are finally complete they will, for some years, be understaffed just as Woodland currently is and the malignancies already at that building are likely to spread. I’m eager to visit Faribault to see if their school district has finally recovered from Dr. Dixon’s many promises.

About the author