On Jan. 16, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz presented his budget proposal for the state government over the next two years. To the surprise of many, the proposal included cutting state aid to private schools.

In 1969, the state government began providing financial assistance to private schools to help cover transportation costs. Six years later, this aid was expanded to cover textbooks, standardized testing, and “pupil support services,” meaning school nursing and counseling. Ever since, state aid has amounted to many millions of dollars supporting private school students.

When Walz announced the proposed budget cuts, many students and faculty members at private schools were both surprised and angered at the move. The cuts would eliminate $109M in aid over the next two-year fiscal cycle, leaving private schools to cover the costs of transportation, textbooks, nurses and counselors, who are usually employees of the school district.

At SPA, all nurses are funded by the state, but most counselors –four out of five across all three divisions– are private employees. There is one exception, however, that being a St. Paul Public Schools employee in the Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT). Counselor Clare Roney offered her thoughts: “I feel fortunate that the priority SPA has made is investing in the elementary, middle and upper school positions. If we were to lose that funding, would it have an impact on our community, absolutely, but not the same impact that it would have on these other independent schools, some of [whose] whole counseling staffs [are] funded through the state.”

Roney emphasizes that every school will feel the impacts differently. For instance, her husband works at a different private school, where many people are stressing about the budget cut because they feel they are dependent on state funding for counseling services. It has been a frequent topic of discussion in the Roney household, demonstrating the substantial fears surrounding the issue. “They are really worried about these proposed budget cuts and are super concerned because if those [counseling] positions were cut, they would have to come up with the additional funding,” Roney said. “It looks different school to school, and it’s hard to anticipate what the outcome will be.”

Only 20 states provide financial assistance to private schools for textbooks and transportation, but some argue that this is an essential means of equality. On one hand, taxpayers are paying for the education system, and even families with children in private schools believe they should be getting some of this money back through state funding. They also believe that students at private schools deserve to have the same free resources as public school students, especially for private school students with a scholarship or financial aid at their school with little means of purchasing textbooks.

For instance, many of SPA’s textbooks and other curricular books, though not any library books, are financed by an annual fund from the state government. Here’s how it works. First, teachers who want to buy textbooks using state funds submit a request to their department chair. If approved, head librarian Cat Mullen orders the books and helps organize and distribute them. “When we get the money, it’s like a big pot, and then it’s first-come, first-serve, essentially,” Mullen said. “The year runs from July 1 to June 30, and so as soon as July 1 hits, teachers can request to purchase things for that coming school year.”

Many different classes use state funds for books, but who requests books is often very different every year. “I was just working on middle school math textbooks that they purchased with state funds because they’re trying a new curriculum in middle school,” Mullen said. “But then last year, there [were] some history textbooks we needed to replace. State funds are used more, from my perspective, when they have a commitment to a book that they want to use for more than just temporarily.”

Several notable requirements make the requesting process quite particular. For instance, the textbooks must be used for at least five years, and if purchasing them, they must be purchased in a manner so that every student in class has a copy. Regardless, state-funded books make up a substantial portion of SPA’s curricular books, though exact numbers are not publicly disclosed. Removing state-funded books would leave a mark, and could potentially mean that families’ book budgets go up, though it’s also likely that SPA will account for this loss given that they already purchase many curricular books without state funds. However, other schools with less financial resources would be impacted more dramatically in this area too.

Although Walz’s private school funding cuts would have widespread economic impacts and certainly be detrimental to some students, the budget is all about correctly apportioning government finances and distributing money in the places it is most needed. For example, the proposal included increased funding for environmental protection, higher education, veterans affairs and public safety. It is a give and take situation, but the livelihoods of citizens are dependent on the government getting the puzzle right.

Part of the widespread surprise stems from the fact that Walz proposed completely eliminating hundreds of millions in funding, rather than a slower, long-term approach to cutting expenditures. Roney was shocked when she heard the news but is trying to stay positive. “Walz was a public school educator, and I do feel like the governor very much has compassion and empathy for education systems, because he was an educator himself. I wish Governor Walz could join our discussion because I’d love to hear the why,” she said.

The financial picture of the next two years is only just developing. The budget proposal does carry significant weight, but, in the end, it is just a proposal. In the coming days, Minnesota Management and Budget will release a budget forecast, which provides a projection of the state’s economic status. This, along with Walz’s proposal, will help inform the state legislature in crafting the next biennial budget. The new budget must be created and agreed upon by July 1 in order to keep the government operating.