All facets of a successful city lead back to the classroom, Mayor Melvin Carter said Saturday at a rally launching the “Vote Yes for St. Paul Kids” campaign.

“Educating our students is at the center and at the heart of every ambition we could have in the city,” he said.

He is pushing for a tax hike that would raise the annual St. Paul Public Schools funding by $18.6 million, a 16.4 percent increase.

If the referendum passes Nov. 6, the average St. Paul homeowner can expect to pay $185 more in school taxes next year.

“Our expectations set the bar for our children, and we have to set the bar high,” To do that, he added, residents need to invest in schools.

Superintendent Joe Gothard said if people want to blame someone for the increase, to look to the Capitol where he says state funding has not kept up with inflation over the past 15 years.

“We’ve been forced to make cuts to our budget that seriously affect our ability to meet the needs of every student,” he said. “This has to stop.”

If approved, the referendum will maintain the current operating levy and provide an additional $475 per student, he said.

The additional funds will be invested in strategic focus areas such as creating culturally relevant curriculum, preparing students for college and career, designing a more effective middle school model and building a positive school culture.

The 38,000-student district will have a $535 million general fund budget this year. About 5 percent of that, or $27.6 million, comes from a 2012 voter-approved operating levy.

The new measure would replace that tax with a new one worth an estimated $46.2 million — $1,180 per student — with annual inflationary increases for 10 years.

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With new shops and street improvements, Saturday’s ‘Rice and LarpenTOUR’ showcases three cities “We’re underfunding our public schools as a state,” said Nick Faber, president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers. “Our kids are counting on us to give them the resources we need.”

For more information on the referendum, go online to voteyesforstpaulkids.net.

Josh Verges contributed to this article.