7th District Congressman Bob Brooklyn was visiting with constituents in Detroit Lakes Bemidji Brainerd and Alexandria this week. Today, we here part of one such meeting this one with high school teachers and administrators in Detroit Lakes Congressman. Berglund likes to explain the process of government as well as issues, which are of special interest to a group such as Educators. In this case. We find the discussion of more interest ourselves and our memory of high school civics class. Congressman Brooklyn Begins by telling how the budget is determined when I first came out there 1970 we would vote on Appropriations bills and starting in April and finish in September and we didn't know till we're done how much money was spent. It was impossible for the Congress to try to develop the priorities are essential to getting a handle on 90 Central spending and increase the funding of those kinds of things that we deem to be more important there for the budgeting process was given over principally to the administration. They were clearly in charge because they have the discipline to decide how much of each federal tax dollar was spent for the 13 major functions of federal government. We got into a big hassle with President Nixon principally over the question of the impounding money. As we all know there was a time that has been a time in recent past presidents who disapproved of a program that Congress authorized and funded for the executive simply to impound the money and not let it be released on your own you have you just spend money like it's going out of style and someone around here has to take charge a point with which feel pretty reasonable people created the federal budget committee within that same Authority. We have severely limited the power of the executive agencies to curtail or impound money. They can do so only with the consent of Congress. And the important thing is however that we for the first time have a mechanism by which we can decide in a rational way how much of a federal tax dollars will be appropriated for each of the major functions of government and a one-time at one day or during one week of the year. We sit down and we argue about these things and we arrive at a decision and once we've decided how much we're going to spend in a general way for education, then it's up to the committee on the preparations or the authorizing Committee of education and labor to decide how to get the most bang for the buck. This will give us the kind of sophisticated business management to it was that we have always lacked. We all have talked about rearranging Federal priorities, but most difficult to accomplish. In fact now I think we can there's a disagreement between the department of health education and Welfare and the Congress at least the majority in the Congress over the proposition, land of the heading of categorical grants as opposed to revenue sharing. The majority feel majority members of the Congress feel I think as I do that we need to provide a delegate as much decision-making to local administrator, Pine Creek. And reduce the amount of Direction that's been assumed by, Washington. At the same time. However, we want to be sure that certain rules are meant that the monies are used for the development of curriculum to Aid the disadvantaged the exceptional. Play those who are in Greater need. And particularly to Aid those schools where the tax basis is lacking. There's a grave constitutional question about whether our current funding for education is in fact constitutional cuz the majority of support comes from your local property taxes. Will you have a district that is less less well-to-do. Then I richer one. Obviously, there's a problem with respect to the providing of facilities and developing a curriculum that meets the community's needs. Generally. We find that the lower-income communities have a higher need then do the more affluent and have the least ability to pay for it. So we have stayed AIDS which are designed to remedy part of this but go only Parkway and we have the federal programs that are designed to pick up where the stage leave off. That has work reasonably well. I would doubt that we're going to see in the next year or two at least any great increase in federal aid to education. We may see some change in the way. It's administered and change the emphasis and at that part. I would like to open this up to you to tell me what you would like to see us do. How you think we could act to make the program more effective in meeting the needs of of this community as you see it. You are teachers and administrators are on the firing line and you're in a better position to make these judgments, but I am obviously and so for the time remaining I would like to get into an informal kind of situation in which you can either ask questions, or you can give me advice. I really would like to know what you think we might do at the federal level to make this whole process more effective keeping in mind that we're operating under some very very serious budget constraints. We are not going to be able to toss more money out as the solution to any national problem. We need to find ways of getting more results for the same amount start on that premise. With that are there any among you or who among you would have something to suggest? any advice right now with Federal reimbursement even State reimbursement for the seems like local school boards. Now if anything is 100% reimbursable by anybody they'll buy the idea whether it's a good idea or bad idea and I think the thing that I'm greatly concerned about is vocational education is getting a very very large share of the budget because some agency outside of the school district in free sample. We have a building Junior High building was built back in the 1890s. And this is a vocational school keeps getting expanded because it's 100% Reimbursable And I think perhaps something needs to be done with the lower areas of public education to maybe make a building more feasible because baby reimbursement could come from another area. I don't know if it's possible. That's a good point to them. This derives from the change in emphasis in the workforce in the demand in the labor market to you know, a few years ago. The emphasis was in The Sciences and the professions and we know what's happened since that. Of the 1960s. Now they demand has been on the recent years has been on the mechanical side, dude. And so we've seen the the rush into location training. Been a fine thing. I guess. No one would fault it the question is how do you develop a balance? We tend you're suggesting we develop a crisis then. A way of getting some attention. I'm not suggesting that that's the better way to go. But we do we do not do a very good job in long-range planning. I don't think anybody in the Congress at least really knows are taking a long hard. Look at the demand for the train in 10, 20 30 years of maybe the u.s. Office of Education has some far-out group. That's that's looking at the potential labor market to the Next Generation. I don't think anybody in congress is where you looking ahead 6 months. Maybe not be off. If you check it out you find that so there's very few dollars less than 5% of the budget are used for construction. And those are the construction dollars that I use for expansion. My question deals with Student Assistance, and no problem as far as the college work-study money and the shortness of funds. I would be interested if there was some way some reallocation of that money that's in the Student Assistance. The Higher Education Act more would be allocated so that we would hire students still work rather than the grant kinds of money. Like the basic education location work study in the college work-study program. But as far as our students are concerned that we are school right now. We have to lay those students off because we don't have enough dollar King of the program. and I would suggest that some reallocation of money in that area come in to make more college work-study funds available so that you could I would much rather see a student working part-time and working their way through school and receiving it outright Grant to go to school. large reallocation Good point that would make more than 1/2 and anything that comes easy is not worth having a graph is sometimes taken for granted appreciated. Who makes that decision? Those are made the applications are made from us to the Office of Education in Washington and then their allocated back to us on a basis of need but whenever you know whether it be by here, or was it be Concordia College or wherever. Is there some criteria that used to determine eligibility? What's the principle of weight? But in addition to that date financially ready for the basic Educational Opportunity Grant as well as a Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and they worked hand-in-hand. I don't know exact the exact formula that you is but I do know that other people have to come and talk to me about it this time that we're short of fun and I will be laying the students off the film students at work to maintain their training but You mentioned that there perhaps wouldn't be an expansion of the number of hours. But Congress is looking at ways some new ways of spending what we have. What are some of the ways of thinking about well, there is no magic to it. I think it's more a matter of fine-tuning. But anything's been there are things that trouble me for example, like the well, we're going to be looking at the impact Aid. For one thing now, that's no great amount of money, but it's 275 million dollars. It's one thing I have objected to know there are two categories of impacted one of which is perfectly legitimate. That's the situation like you have families of the workers at the Grand Forks Air Base go to public schools. Obviously, the district has to have helped the other is where you have person to live off base on Holmes and there's no reason why they should be that age to go into those but that's I suppose in Toto two hundred million dollars Unfortunately. They better equip schools are the ones who have the full-time Ombudsman that go after grants. This is will have to be re-examined. There's a difficult to place the to write a formula that meets the criteria. Know that I personally would not believe that the district Edina really needs any federal aid. Really they growl now. I mean, it would be really go up and smoke me when you get a ride down to the honest cases. I don't think they need that kind of need any federal support or anything. They can do with their own enormous ability to finance. Whatever it is you want to take on that's true in Fairfax County Virginia where I happen to live and many many other communities in United States now. To devise a formula liquid wean them off difficult because you can go into any school district. I think the emphasis is probably going to have to come. Maximum effort and have the formula have to be changed. I think we made some mistakes in the past and in assuming that that if a family's income is poor, but it's it's educational means are automatically greater. I don't think that's a good correlation. But I think it's the tax base of the community is low at the institution needs more money. And we see him the District of Columbia. For example, a very sad situation as we see over much of the Old South where we have had done five numbers are very poor people with very little income property and very low tax base and those systems have suffered. Under most formulas are we look at that are being considered? Those kinds of communities would fare better and would eventually would win the well take the well-to-do district right off. That's why I think it's written really matter fine-tuning. Unless you have some suggestions you might recognize brain surgery for headaches and education work for the federal dollars are involved. I guess I still think that in many instances the best help we can give the disadvantaged and somewhat the same help we can give the gifted in the average too. And that's would be a good individualize Cricket on my I think off and we put a lot of money in the disadvantaged programs and sometimes almost set them aside is something special and different and I wonder if we couldn't accomplish more if the money were put into a state to improve education in general. Maybe for Cricket on the gulf and so forth but not just for the disadvantage or not just for the gifted him and so forth with education in general and if it seems like there's a little money available for for this Federal funding for the total cost is about 5% have the bill been where you know, we're always trying to get this up, but it's it's a very difficult matter if I start now on we have What we have is horrendous Federal deficit staring Us in the face. Each one percent change in unemployment represents 15 billion dollar change in the federal budget. Instead of having a nine and a half percent rate of unemployment. We had a four and a half percent or 5% rate, which is more near normal. We would have a near or in fact, we would have a balanced budget or very modest Surplus. Because each 1% that's added to the pub federal payroll generates 12 billion dollars in more taxes and reduces the federal outplayed by 3 billion. And the budget process through which one outgoing is designed to do one thing and that's to stimulate the economy, but people back to work once they're back to work and on the tax payroll has been our budgetary problems are have been solved. And we get into some very difficult arguments about where to cut spending and how to establish these priorities. I was disappointed the budget for the Department of Defense to keep it in proper perspective. In this next two fiscal year personal income tax payers will put the 12 billion dollars into the US Treasury. And I got a hundred and twelve billion about 92 has committed to National Defense. now the problem is when we start to examine every alternative every option and trying to curtail spending in that area so that we could increase our funding for education. For example. Everything we look at has an impact on the economy. We could we could lay a tournament in men loose from the Armed Forces. For example at a cost that a savings of several billions of dollars two-thirds of the federal budget for DOD is for payroll as for retirement and for the veterans administration. So Manpower related 1/3 is 4 Hardware. And so with a volunteer army, you bought the only way we could do substantial reduce or I'll play for the federal payroll in the armed forces would be to reduce the compliment. But at a time when you already have a high rate of unemployment, we felt that this was probably not a viable option. Every Hardware item we look at his it has job applications and airplane contract to ship contract of any kind all has an effect would have an effect on our economy. And so we we really we're not able to come to any hard-and-fast decision on how to create a lit how to cut spending that obviously is the big area anybody who wants to engage in meaningful talk and balancing federal budget. But it's a matter of it about which we were not able to cope successfully. I think everybody that I know at least in Congress would like to increase the the federal commitment education. I think that this can be accomplished in time. A fact, I think it's essential we have other problems that are tied in with education there no floor 200 years with ignore this business of migration to the cities and we now have New York that's on the brink of bankruptcy by the 1st of July something will happen in the city. They will be default in your bonds or I don't know really what will take place but if none of the options of replacing Detroit is not far behind Philadelphia is just a matter of time and it'll be the same text, Newark, New Jersey. St. Louis and on the list goes on and on and on. It costs about 12 to 15 times more to provide essential public services in New York City than it does in Detroit Lakes Minnesota. When you add in the cost of Education police and fire protection, so we judge collection and treatment law enforcement Transportation housing and the rest. It's infinitely more expensive in a big city than it is in a community like this. No, the current answer to our solution has been proposed to New York, very serious and horrible and I obviously no one knows I don't think this is going to happen don't think that we can afford that the president of a city when there are 20 30 others in the same effects, but it says it's a part of a much bigger problem that we've never really challenged whether or not we can afford to be oblivious to the needs of people in terms of them looking for something they can't find a poem there be a job. Or whatever else is New York City had in the last 10 years has lost two men and taxpayers and fight of the suburbs and acquired two men in Port will pay no taxes and then gone on various programs terrible burden on our school system and all the rest and it comes from the migration patterns of this country. And I think that before we do we have to deal with a bigger problem and that is providing people with the opportunity to stay here and not go to that place. You've been listening to 7th District Congressman. Bob Bergland has he met with teachers and administrators in Detroit Lakes this week.