MINNEAPOLIS -- A new statewide poll shows that many Minnesotans are skeptical of how schools spend money.

The poll shows that 45 percent of Minnesotans think the state's schools waste a lot of money. Only 41 percent say schools spend wisely.

Those are among the findings of a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll of 823 adults, conducted March 7-10. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

The findings reflect an increasingly dubious public that doesn't think the Legislature gives enough money to K-12 education, but is split over whether schools spend that money wisely.

All over Minnesota, school districts are cutting teaching jobs, increasing students' walking distance and raising athletics fees to deal with less-than-expected revenues and rising costs. Yet those districts are spending more money than ever -- nearly $6.3 billion in 2000-01.

An analysis by the Star Tribune shows that Minnesota schools now spend a bigger portion of their budgets on social services, health services, transportation and technology and less on the core of public education -- classroom instruction.

On average, Minnesota districts spent just 47 percent of their operating budget on regular instruction in 2000-01.

Thanks to state and federal mandates, local lawsuits and the demands of parents in an increasingly consumer-oriented system, most of the money spent on public education in Minnesota goes to people who, at first glance, have little to do with teaching most of the children.

Mike Griffith, an education finance specialist with the Education Commission of the States, said districts are spending more on administration, testing, technology and special education. "And the money has to come from somewhere,'' he said. "So it comes from general education.''

As districts shift more money from the classroom to other services, the quality of instruction could erode, said David Plank, director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University.

"But erosion is hard to observe,'' Plank said. "It's a process that takes place over time, whereas denial of services to a special-needs child or failure to maintain the brakes on your school bus have a quick consequence.''

The shift in Minnesota has been more noticeable.

More than two-thirds of the state's school districts spent less than half of their budget on regular education in 2000-01, according to the analysis. That's a significant change from just five years earlier. In 1996-97, almost 50 percent of districts spent half or more of their operating budget on classroom instruction.

And the state's per-pupil spending keeps rising, outpacing the rate of inflation since 1996-97.

"If we measure a quality public education only in terms of academics, it's very, very difficult,'' said Mahnomen Superintendent Brent Gish. "However, if we accept that we've taken on many, many roles.... We can say, 'We're a great value. Public education is a great value.' ''

David Jennings, chief operating officer for Minneapolis public schools, estimates that his district spends $30 million a year just on health care services such as vision and hearing screenings and vaccinations.