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Budget Brief: State and Federal Funding

Budget Brief: State and Federal Funding

Minneapolis Public Schools receives funding from primarily three sources: 

  • State government 
  • Federal government
  • Local sources

Most state funding comes from the general education revenue program. The amount is based on enrollment and the number of students that qualify for educational benefits (formerly known as “free and reduced-price lunch”).

How is MPS funded?

In the 2022-2023 school year:

  • 24.9% of our budget came from local sources, 
  • 56.1% came from state sources, and 
  • 19% came from federal sources (including ESSER funding). 

How were those funds spent?

  • 60.7% of those funds were spent on instruction, 
  • 12.6% on instructional and pupil support services, 
  • 3.2% on site level administration, 
  • 8.5% on facilities, operations and maintenance, 
  • 9% on student transportation, and 
  • 6% on district level administration. 
Budget Brief: State and Federal Funding
Budget Brief: State and Federal Funding 2

Source: Minnesota Department of Education

In recent years MPS has received an additional $264.6 million in one-time federal funding as a response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. For fiscal years 2022-2024, MPS has been using around $60 million to maintain staffing levels and service levels. 

  • MPS has capacity to serve 40,000 students, but is currently serving 29,786 students. 
  • MPS has staffing, services and/or operational costs despite declining enrollment.  
  • Additional funding helps. For example, the COVID-19 federal funding allowed MPS to respond to the pandemic and to minimize the impact of increased expenses. There needs to be a financial adjustment to align MPS priorities and current enrollment.

Changes Impacting the MPS Budget

MPS is required to be in compliance with state law. The following are new changes. 

The READ Act

The READ Act is a new state mandate that focuses on making sure all Minnesota students are reading at or above grade level. MPS is required to teach students and train teachers based on the science of reading. We anticipate $4 million in new costs over the next school year as we implement The READ Act. 

New Courses

All school districts need to add the following: 

  • Civics and personal finance will be required courses. Students will need to complete these courses to graduate beginning next school year (2024-2025). 
  • Schools will be required to teach Holocaust and genocide studies in the 2026-2027 school year.
  • High schools will need to offer ethnic studies courses beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. 

Menstrual Products

School districts are required to provide menstrual products to students as well as opiate-overdose medications like Naloxone. Providing menstrual products will cost approximately $240,000 per year and we will receive $2.00 per pupil in state aid.

Budget Briefs are high level overviews of different components of the MPS budget. With questions, email answers@mpls.k12.mn.us.