Horner Presents Plan to Fix the Budget Mess

The Current State of Minneso-so Is Not Acceptable

MINNEAPOLIS, May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tom Horner today spoke to the Schools for Equity in Education detailing his budget and education reform plan that will make Minnesota "the State of Knowledge."

Here are excerpts from the speech:

My budget solution is based on three pillars: First, reform will be based on spending cuts with the basis that not every problem will have a government solution nor will every government program be entitled to continue or be unaccountable for results.  

Balancing the state budget will take more revenue. I am committed to raising revenue fairly, through taxes that are more stable during economic instability. Candidates who claim they can produce a real, balanced budget only through spending cuts are either are naïve, mathematically challenged, or dishonest. The Horner administration will bring everyone to the same table and listen to the good faith ideas and solutions of others and to agree on a common path that is right for all Minnesotans.

Second, we need to invest for the future. Minnesota is a state becoming known for our potholes as much as for our mosquitoes. We cannot be a first-class state with a third-world infrastructure – in transportation, energy, technology or education.

And third, we need to reform our public systems and public institutions. That's not just buying computers or jointly purchasing cleaning supplies with your city or county government. It's thinking differently about how and why we do things. It is placing outcomes over process.

A great starting place to improve our state is with education reform. Every child in this state deserves an excellent education. Excellence in education should not be dependent on where a child lives or the property wealth of the local community.  It is the obligation of all Minnesotans to assure that every child receives the education they will need to meet the growing expectations of 21st Century workers, citizens and life-long learners.

Before we decide how schools are funded, we should be having the debate over what we are funding. Minnesota needs to overhaul K-12 education. My administration will measure progress by what a child knows, not by what he or she can get done in a six-hour day or nine-month school year.

Education reform will require more site-based control, ever-learning teachers, greater investments in online learning (in and out of the classroom) and, yes, flexibility from the unions and less micro-management from central office administrators. In return, Minnesota receives an effective way to close the achievement gap; students who are more engaged and better-prepared for all of life's opportunities; teachers who are trusted for their judgment as well as their teaching skills and parents, and taxpayers who are getting far better value on their investment.

For more information regarding Horner's campaign or policy statements, log on to www.Horner2010.com.

http://www.horner2010.com/minnesota-governor-race/the-current-state-of-minneso-so-is-not-acceptable/

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SOURCE Horner2010