After hinting for several weeks Gov. Tim Pawlenty is proposing more money for Minnesota schools. One thing he's not saying yet though is where the money will come from. Pawlenty wants to spend an additional $292 million on schools over the next two years plus another $60 million in incentives to districts that agree to pay teachers based on performance rather than years of service.

MPR's Tim Pugmire has the governor's plan and some reaction:

Using the media center at Vadnais Heights Elementary as a backdrop, Gov. Pawlenty stressed that education funding is a top priority in his budget proposal. His spending plan would increase the state's basic funding formula by 2 percent each of the next two years. That translates to an additional $202 per student over the biennium. State budget problems kept the formula amount frozen for three years.

Pawlenty says schools need the funding increase.

"As school costs go up and pressures on costs go up, more funding being available to schools is an important part of maintaining, supporting and hopefully enhancing our schools," said Pawlenty.

The centerpiece of Pawlenty's education plan is an incentive program to reform teacher salary structures. The Republican governor wants to end the traditional practice of paying teachers based on years of service and college credits. Instead, he wants teacher salaries linked to their performance in the classroom. Pawlenty's budget will include $60 million in incentives to help interested school districts make the switch.

"I think we can do a better job -- as a state and as a nation -- treating teachers as professionals rather than assembly line workers from the 1940s," said Pawlenty. "There are a number of enhancements that I think we can make to the way that we treat, and consider, and evaluate and pay teachers, that will be more modern and be more productive, particularly as it relates to student achievement and student learning."

Another part of the governor's plan would give school districts more authority to raise property taxes without first getting voter approval. Some school officials have been asking for that authority for some time, but not everyone is happy with the governor's plan. This is from Norman Draper's story in the Star Tribune:

At least one DFLer, Rep. Mindy Greiling of Roseville, saw the plan as being partly paid for by increased taxes -- in the form of local property taxes that school boards might raise without letting the voters decide.

"My main impression here is that he's not keeping his no-new-taxes pledge," said Greiling, a member of both the House education finance and policy committees.

Plus, Greiling said, Pawlenty's general fund increases don't cover DFLers' calculations of the annual inflation rate at 2.5 percent. Other DFLers said they appreciate the governor's recognition that schools need more money, but that it isn't enough.

"The dollars the governor proposes in his budget are insufficient," Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer, chairman of the Senate Education Finance Division, said in a statement. "While we appreciate the governor's recognition that schools are not adequately funded, his proposal doesn't even come close to covering the funding freeze the governor imposed on schools the past two years."

Some school district officials agree the spending increase is a little light. Tammy J. Oseid had this quick survey of opinion in the Pioneer Press:

At Vadnais Heights Elementary, where the governor outlined his plan, parents questioned how much another $292 million — or about $122 per student in the first year — would accomplish statewide.

"Two percent isn't really going to bring anything back," said Diane Edson, one of a group of Vadnais Heights parents who raised $34,000 in 2004 to hire another teacher so each fourth-grade class would have 23 students, rather than 31.

School district leaders reacted similarly.

"We're happy that the governor is attempting to provide additional resources," said Pat Harvey, superintendent of the St. Paul public schools. "Unfortunately for us, the increased funding is only a dent in the $24 million deficit that we have."

"It's not going to replace what was lost over the last three years, but it's enough to stop the bleeding," said White Bear Lake superintendent Ted Blaesing, who this summer assumes presidency of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators.

As I noted above, one big question the governor hasn't answered is where he finds the money to increase funding for schools. If you add the $352 million in new spending in this proposal to the projected $700 million shortfall you come up with a $1 billion plus problem. Clearly state funded health care programs are in Pawlenty's sights. But we'll probably have to wait until next week to get the final word on what he's planning.

Speaking of health care, we cited MPR's Laura McCallum's story yesterday about Senate DFLers pushing for money in the state healthcare access fund to be used for MinnesotaCare rather than general budget balancing. Here's the latest from Laura:

A Minnesota Senate committee has approved a bill that would repeal a $5,000 cap on outpatient benefits for some Minnesotans enrolled in MinnesotaCare.

During the budget cuts of two years ago, lawmakers enacted the cap for adults without dependent children in the state's subsidized health insurance program. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, says since the cap went into effect, about 300 childless adults on MinnesotaCare have died. It's unclear whether their deaths were related to lack of medical care because of the cap.

Sheila Hart of Hibbing is a cancer survivor enrolled in MinnesotaCare. She said she and about 6,000 other Minnesotans could reach the cap this year.

"We do not deserve this death sentence. We have not committed any crime, unless being poor is a crime itself," she said.

Hart said it's immoral to use money in the fund that pays for MinnesotaCare for purposes other than MinnesotaCare. That health care access fund is projected to have a surplus in the next two-year budget cycle. The Senate Health and Family Security Committee approved a bill repealing the cap by a vote of 9-0.

It'll be pretty quiet at the Capitol Friday. I have a day off Monday and will be in Rochester for the governor's State of the State speech Tuesday. Listen for our live coverage on Midday, and I'll write again on Wednesday.