North Dakota Commission on Education Improvement
Commission Meeting Minutes
November 8, 2006
Roughrider Room, State Capitol, Bismarck, North Dakota
The tenth meeting of the North Dakota Commission on Education Improvement was called to order at 1:05 p.m. by the commission's chair, Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple.
Commission members in attendance included Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Warren Larson, Jack Maus, Martin Schock, Jon Martinson, Mark Lemer, Joe Westby, Doug Johnson, Paul Stremick, Sen. Tim Flakoll, Wayne Sanstead, Sen. David O'Connell, Rep. David Monson and Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch.
Mark Lemer made a motion to approve the minutes from the October meeting as printed and Wayne Sanstead seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.
At 1:10 p.m., Sen. Tim Flakoll made a motion to recess. The motion was approved by all members and the Commission was adjourned until notice to reconvene. At 1:15 p.m., the Commission was called back to order by Lt. Gov. Dalrymple.
Lt. Gov. Dalrymple discussed the presentation he was going to make on behalf of the Commission at a legislative briefing in Bismarck November 14. The briefing will be held in conjunction with Legislative Council presentations and all legislators will be invited to attend to learn more about the Commission's recommendations.
Commission members then reviewed the final version of the report and discussed any additional changes that needed to be made prior to the final adoption of the Commission's recommendations. Members discussed the recent campaign of letters to the editor and display ads placed in local newspapers by Apple Creek school board members and parents, as well as other small schools. Apple Creek's concern is in regard to how students are counted for K-8 schools: the Commission has decided that ADM should be counted where the students attend school and Apple Creek feels the students should be counted in the district that is paying their tuition. The Commission discussed the issue again and decided to stay with its original decision to have the funding follow the student.
Mark Lemer provided an example regarding tuition and the way ADM is counted as it relates to his home district of West Fargo. Mapleton has a K-8 school and sends its high school students to West Fargo. According to the numbers run by Mark, by converting funds into a per pupil payment, West Fargo will actually decrease the amount of tuition it charges Mapleton to educate its high school students. The elimination of the mill levy deduct will drive down tuition costs even more. In Mapleton's case, this would result in a decrease of $1,000 per student, totaling $60,000.
Commission members discussed another concern that was being raised by the Scranton Public School District regarding valuation per student. The Commission upheld its earlier decision that a student-based formula is preferable because it reacts to enrollment: as enrollment decreases, funding increases, and vice versa.
Lt. Gov. Dalrymple stated that some additional changes to the report had been provided by Paul Stremick and some legal clarifications had been implemented. Sen. Tim Flakoll and Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch suggested that a statement be added to the report regarding the on-going work of the Commission moving forward. The report's introduction implies that the Commission will continue working to address adequacy, but it needs to be stated more clearly that the Commission will move forward with adequacy, as well as continue to move forward to improve funding and equity for K-12 education.
Sen. David O'Connell made a motion to discuss putting $79 million into the first year of the biennium and $70 million into the second year for a total of $149 million that could be provided for property tax relief to stabilize property taxes. The $149 million, combined with the additional $60 million proposed by the Governor, would total an investment of $209 million. Sen. Tim Flakoll seconded the motion for discussion.
Sen. O'Connell added that consultants have suggested that $200 million needs to be invested in education to ensure equity and adequacy. He added that with his recommendation, the state can address funding education and relieving property taxes.
Sen. Tim Flakoll expressed a concern that this provision would not encourage local effort. Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch said that she has a hard time looking at an issue that has not yet been addressed by the Legislative Assembly. She added that the Commission's original mission was to spend the $60 million proposed by the Governor and members need to stay that course. If additional dollars are available, the Commission can add more; but for now, they need to focus on the $60 million.
Lt. Gov. Dalrymple said this is a tough motion for the Commission members, all great advocates for K-12 education in the state. Such a motion will make it hard for members to vote no. He added that a one-time windfall, such as Sen. O'Connell is proposing, would be difficult to sustain. The Governor is committed to continuing to add dollars for K-12 education over the next few years and that the state will probably reach $209 million anyway, but will do so gradually, rather than in one lump sum.
A voice vote was taken regarding Sen. O'Connell's motion. The motion failed.
Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch made a motion to adopt the Commission's final recommendations for Gov. Hoeven and the Legislative Assembly. Sen. Tim Flakoll seconded the motion. The Commission's 10 voting members were polled for their final vote. Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Sen. Tim Flakoll, Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch, Warren Larson, Mark Lemer, Jack Maus, Rep. David Monson, Wayne Sanstead and Martin Schock voted to adopt the Commission's recommendations. Sen. David O'Connell voted not to adopt the recommendations. The motion passed with a vote of 9-1.
Following the vote, Sen. David O'Connell said that his no vote was intended to be a vote of concern. He felt the recommendations were good and represented a sound starting point, but that issues still remained that needed addressing, including the oil and gas imputation and the counting of ADM for K-8 schools.
Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch complimented Commission members on all their great work and stated that the Commission's bill will more than likely change as it goes through the legislative process. She expressed her disappointment in the fact that a unanimous vote was not cast to adopt the recommendations of the Commission. She stressed that this is not a time to be political, but that the Commission needs to be unified in its mission to do what is best for North Dakota's kids. Lt. Gov. Dalrymple said that he had met with the P16 group and that the work of the Commission was on target with that of the P16 committee. Members of the P16 agreed to support and testify on behalf of the Commission's efforts.
Sen. Tim Flakoll commended Commission members on all their hard work, especially the administrators for the great ideas they brought forward and for their dedication to North Dakota's kids. Sen. David O'Connell expressed his appreciation to the Governor for making the Commission a bi-partisan effort.
Lt. Gov. Dalrymple stated that the bill would be introduced on the Senate side and that the Commission's recommendations would stand as one comprehensive bill rather than several.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
