Wrong choice!  Using the definitions that Governor Pawlenty believes are justified, schools districts already spend an average of 69.2% of their funds "in the classroom".   The Governor's proposal does not indicate how the results of this requirement would be measured, and it makes no allowance for differences in costs of operating schools in different areas of the state.  For example, rural school systems with high busing costs and inner city Metro schools with high populations of special needs/disadvantaged students, could be expected to have higher "out of classroom" costs than the Metro suburban ring of school districts would have. A Standard and Poor's Report released in Summer '05 states that "Minnesota had by far the greatest percentage of districts that already allocate at least 65% of their operating budgets to instruction."  And, "Just as there is no observable relationship between spending more than 65% on instruction and high student performance, there is also no significant correlation between spending any minimum percentage on instruction and student performance." Check out this chart, which shows how the percentage spent on classroom instruction in Minnesota compares with student proficiency in reading and math:
			Operating Expenditures Spent on Instruction Number of Districts Range in Reading and Math Proficiency Rates     Low Average High Less than 55% 3 46.4% 64.4% 83.9% 55-60% 35 52.9% 73.2% 86.4% 60-65% 152 31.8% 74.2% 93.5% 65-70% 142 46.9% 72.5% 86.1% Greater than 70% 3 58.8% 71.7% 85.3%
	The highest high score and the highest average score show up in the 60-65% range.  For the lowest scoring schools, the best results were in the 55-60% and the >70% categories.  Clearly, the circumstances of different schools are different.  Imposing a 70% requirement on "in classroom" spending for the whole state runs the risk of wasting money in schools that are already giving their students excellent service, and not meeting the real needs of schools that need additional help. General information from www.parentsunited.org Quotes and chart information from Fall 2005 - The Issues and Implications of the "65 Percent Solution", School Matters, page 2.