This November, Minnesotans vote on a statewide constitutional amendment that would send more money from Minnesota's existing Permanent School Fund to every public school district, charter school, and tribal school — without raising income taxes or property taxes.
This is the part that gets lost. A "Yes" on this amendment does not raise your income taxes, and it does not raise your property taxes. There is no new tax attached to it, no rate change, and no new line on any bill you pay. It simply lets an existing state trust fund — money the state already has — do more of what it was created to do.
This is not a levy. It is not a bond. It is not a school board race. It does not raise your income or property taxes — not by one dollar.
If you are the kind of voter who reads a school ballot question and immediately looks for the tax increase hidden inside it — a fair instinct — this is the rare one where there is nothing to find. The money already exists. The only question is whether more of it is allowed to reach classrooms.
Most school-related votes ask you to open your own wallet. This one does not. The table below lines up the three kinds of school questions people mix up — so it is clear which one this is, and which ones it is not.
| Question | New tax on you? | Where the money comes from | Who decides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local levy or bond referendum | Yes — raises local property taxes | Your household & local property owners | Voters in this district |
| School board race | No — but it's about who governs | Not a funding question at all | Voters in this district |
| Permanent School Fund amendment | No — zero new taxes | An existing $2.3B statewide trust fund | All Minnesota voters, statewide |
| The bottom row is what's on the ballot here. It is a separate statewide question — not a local levy, not a bond, not a board seat. | |||
The Permanent School Fund has supported Minnesota public schools since statehood in 1858. It has grown dramatically — but an outdated rule in the state constitution keeps most of that growth locked away from schools. This amendment updates that rule.
| Year | Fund value |
|---|---|
| 2010 | ~$675 million |
| 2025 | more than $2.3 billion |
Today, the constitution limits annual school distributions mostly to interest and dividends — even though modern investment growth also comes from market gains. The amendment updates the formula so schools can receive up to 4.5% of the fund's three-year average value each year. Supporters estimate this would raise annual per-student distributions by about 40%.
Districts would not need to apply for the money or stand up a new program to receive it. The fund keeps working as a permanent trust — the amendment simply lets a fairer share of its growth reach classrooms now.
For Forest Lake Area Schools, the practical point is simple: this is a statewide opportunity to bring additional per-student funding into our schools without adding a single local tax request.
It does not replace the work of evaluating local board candidates or any local levy questions on their own merits — those are separate decisions, and they should be judged separately. This is its own ballot question, standing on its own.
Skipping this question has the same practical effect as voting no.
Minnesota constitutional amendments need a majority of all voters participating in the election — not just a majority of those who mark the question. That means leaving it blank does not sit the vote out; it quietly counts against passage.
So if you support more school funding coming from the existing Permanent School Fund — at no new cost to you — you have to actually mark "Yes." Turning the ballot over without touching this question is the same as voting no.
Vote Yes on the Permanent School Fund amendment: modernize an existing statewide school trust fund and increase funding for every Minnesota public school — without raising income or property taxes. This is not a school board race and not a levy.
More topics in this series will be added here as they're published.
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