It was a pure Jesse moment. A great tough line totally divorced from his actual policy.
Ventura championed a state takeover of a good chunk of local school dollars. It was a move favored by the teachers unions because it took away a lot of the control of school spending at the local level.
This was in an environment where a lot of local school spending referendums were being vetoed - something VERY rare in Minnesota. The people were seeing school spending skyrocket, and school performance decline. Many municipalities became fed up and stopped approving the funding increases. They were demanding accountability.
Thanks to Ventura, the schools got their increased funding from the state. Local referendums are now a much smaller source of funding. Accountability is a sham. And Ventura shoulders a great deal of the blame.