Ok, Spotty is back on the scent . . .

Senator Steve Kelley (DFL - Hopkins) sent out an email message concerning the passage of an education by the Minnesota Senate. The bill is SF2267, and the Senator, who is the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, says it is a good one. Spotty is still reading it, but it is supposed to contain the first genuine increases in the state's education appropriation for four years.

It passed unanimously, which means that all of the Senate Republicans, including Senator Michel, voted for it. So far, so good. But remember, this is an appropriations bill, not a revenue bill. In other words it makes promises that can only be kept if the money is raised to fund it.

Spot's readers will recall from the news, referred to in a earlier post on this blog, that the Republicans, including Senator Michel, panned the idea of an increase in the top marginal rate for the income tax to pay for increased educational appropriations. Every Senate Republican voted against the bill to raise the top marginal rate.

Spotty senses a little cognitive dissonance here. What happens when increased educational funding meets Geoff Michel's No New Taxes Ever, I Really Mean It, Cross My Heart and Hope to Die pledge that he made to the Taxpayers League? Connect the spots.

There is another thing about SF2267 that Spot finds interesting. If you read through it, you will see several items directing school districts to do this or that, most unrelated to the classroom itself, and all costing the districts money. With all the sanctimonious talk about devoting at least 65% of educational funding DIRECTLY to the classroom, Spot cannot see how Republicans, including our own Senator, could vote for a bill that will make it just that much harder for districts to get their chins up to the bar. It just gets curiouser and curiouser.