News from the front lines

Our coverage of the failed war on academic failure continues...

Governor Pawlenty vows to "stay the course".

The governor's $34 billion, two-year proposal concentrates spending where the state already sends the lion's share —

Despite criticism from a growing number of constituents, some of whom have begun to describe the situation as a “quagmire”, Governor Tim Pawlenty said today that he will not bow to growing public pressure demanding a change of tactics in the state’s war on academic failure, promising schools would receive the biggest chunk of new cash during the next two years under his budget.

School districts and colleges would receive a $1.1 billion boost, some of which would be a one-time bump.

Judy Schaubach, president of the statewide teacher's union Education Minnesota, praised the Governor for ignoring the defeatists, but said that the problem required a surge in new funding which the governor’s plan fell well short of.

Echoing a familiar theme Shaubach said huge new investments were needed to save the children from academic failure: "We have more and more school districts that are simply at the point of not even offering group health insurance to their employees, their teachers and educational support professionals."

Meanwhile, in a related story a state audit claims that the administrators have short funded veteran's benefit packages..

The pension funds for hundreds of thousands of government workers and retirees aren't as fiscally fit as thought and face looming challenges, according to a report from the state legislative auditor.The state's accounting doesn't reflect a deficit of as much as $4 billion in a fund used to pay benefits to retirees, the report said. It tied the deficit to the practice of boosting benefits for retirees when the funds did well on the market.

The audit found average retiree benefit raises of 9.2 percent a year from 1996 to 2001 -- increases that the funds kept paying out even after the market took a nosedive. Including those extra benefits worsened the financial picture for the Teachers Retirement Association, Public Employees Retirement Plan and Minnesota State Retirement System.

The financially troubled Minneapolis teachers pension fund had only half the balance it needed to cover future obligations when it was folded into the statewide Teachers Retirement Association last year.The audit identified the St. Paul teachers pension fund as the riskiest among local government funds; its balance would cover about 70 percent of its obligations.

The report urged lawmakers to require higher employee or government contributions to the fund.

Schaubach said this news proves her point “You can’t expect us to win the war on academic failure unless we can guarantee a quiet, simple retirement from the battlefield.” "A crappy 9.2 per year boost barely keeps up with the cost of maintaining a stinking lake cabin on Minnetonka...do you have any idea what it costs to equip a condo in Key West these days?"

She scoffed at the notion that teachers should pay more for their own retirement “It’s time for the unpatriotic child haters to pony up, and it's time for everyone else to support the troops too...just send it in!”