The Reckoning  Money woes test school quality  With nearly half
the state budget funding education, opportunities are drying up
amid looming deficit.   Students in Stacey Skinner’s science
class at St. Paul Central High School examined a sheep brain as
part of their study of brain anatomy. Due to budget cuts and
increased costs, four to six students now study each brain; in
the past two would share each brain  Photo: Brian Peterson, Star
Tribune  CameraStar Tribune photo galleries  Cameraview larger
Mindy Lattimore got nothing but blank stares from her students
when she brought her Class of '96 letter jacket to school.
Lattimore graduated 15 years ago and since then six of the
activities that she earned patches for, including marching band
and drama club, have ceased to exist at North Branch High, in
one of Minnesota's hardest-hit school districts.  The programs
have gone away one by one as voters turned down seven straight
referendums aimed at easing the money crunch along the Sunrise
River 45 miles north o