An advocacy day and rally at the Minnesota State Capitol May 7 aims to convene school staff, students, families and concerned members of the public to urge legislators to prevent nonpublic pupil aid cuts.
The event is co-sponsored by the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) and Minndependent, an Edina-based nonprofit that focuses on private and independent schools.
According to the MCC — which represents the public policy interests of Minnesota’s Catholic bishops — eliminating this aid from the state’s budget would cut roughly $100 million in aid over the biennium, including funding for services such as transportation, nursing and standardized testing. The cuts have been included in a K-12 education finance bill proposal in the Legislature.
The MCC suggested that if enacted, the cuts would increase costs for families by over $1,000 per student annually — “approximately $540 per student per year in instructional, nursing and counseling aid, along with up to $540 per student in transportation aid.”
The MCC has stated that unless parishes and nonpublic schools can fundraise to directly cover the deficit created by such cuts, tuition costs may increase and supports such as mental health resources and guidance counseling as well as standardized testing may be reduced or eliminated.
In talking points that the MCC is distributing to concerned citizens ahead of the advocacy day, the MCC staff suggests nonpublic pupil aid “ensures educational equity and promotes school choice without diverting funds from public education.” The MCC stated the funding helps support “the basic educational needs” of students and allows educators “to serve them (students) equitably.”
Jason Adkins, MCC’s executive director and general counsel, said the goal of the gathering May 7 is to “stop the cuts this year and show such strong opposition as to discourage them from being proposed in the future.”
“These cuts would take effect July 1, so it is important that anyone who cares about the well-being of nonpublic school students step forward and advocate against these cuts to essential services,” Adkins wrote in an email. “We should not be leaving kids at the bus stop because they choose a private school. Similarly, the health care of all students matters, and we should not cut nursing services.”
The May 7 rally is taking place as the latest legislative session adjournment date of May 19 draws near. “Legislative leaders will be heading into negotiations and the conference committee process to finalize budget bills, including the education finance bill,” Adkins explained.
The advocacy day and rally follow efforts the MCC has made in recent months to highlight this issue.
In March, the MCC urged Catholics to make phone calls to Gov. Tim Walz as he considered eliminating funding for nonpublic school students in his revised budget. MCC staff also encouraged Catholics to reach out to state legislators to voice opposition to eliminating nonpublic pupil aid.
Meanwhile, as the Minnesota bishops met with legislators March 27 at the Minnesota State Capitol for their annual advocacy day, they noted a primary concern was the proposal to eliminate this aid.
The Advocacy Day and Rally for Nonpublic School Students will take place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 7 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. The rally will begin in the Capitol Rotunda at 1:30 p.m.
More information, including a link to register for the rally, can be found online at mncatholic.org/rally25. Those who are unable to attend the events May 7 are asked to use the MCC action alert webpage at mncatholic.org/action_23393 or the Minndependent action alert online at minndependent.org/advocacy to reach out to legislators.
