How to judge tax value? That is a hard question for the public to understand. And I don't think you can penalize schools or libraries because our city administration continues to contribute to wealthfare. That just isn't appropriate. It seems to me that you need to take each item separately and judge them based on your experience and knowledge. And I don't believe you can take a line item such as test scores and say that is the reason to support or oppose a particular referenda. Analyzing the media hype, marketing, and lack of intelligence is hard as well. Who wouldn't vote for something that said "Vote Yes for Kids." But what does that mean anyway? I'm glad they added the "lower classroom sizes" to the signs. At least that is more intelligent. And let's face it, intuition plays a big part in our decision process. I am in the marketplace for environments for my children. I have been very impressed this year with the service-oriented nature of the Minneapolis Public Schools. It seems that the message is getting to all levels about how to treat parents and their children. I have been treated with respect and when I needed more than what the school was delivering at the time, they modified their approach to meet my demands. As many of you know that isn't an easy task ;-). I have not seen this with the Public Library system and in fact, do not even attend our local libraries anymore. They seem to be more into controlling their domain and enforcing their rules no matter the situation than providing service to the public. I would call their approach "service with an attitude" as opposed to "service with a smile." And I believe the schools have been creative in their response to parent's concerns. I have not experienced that with the library. I am touring schools for a kindergarten and have to admit that I believe the smaller class sizes do contribute to a better environment. You might call it - the enhanced spiritual nature of the room (I don't mean to offend any religion, it just seems like the best description) . I don't believe that test scores should be the only measure of how well a room is doing. Logic should tell us that if you have more students in a room, there is less of a chance to get around to all the students. And robbing students of one on one interaction is detrimental. I also believe that even smaller schools would eventually be appropriate. The school within a school movement has my attention. This doesn't mean I don't think the bar shouldn't be raised higher for Minneapolis Schools, but I do believe if we don't support them, there is no way they are going to support us as we demand. And isn't this referenda about maintaining an existing taxation level anyway? I might feel different if it were about tax increases, which has been happening with City Services including the library referenda. So, ultimately I believe we are crazy to pull the rug out from underneath our schools when they are just getting started in the right direction. I feel like a stockholder with our schools and believe that capital investment is appropriate at this time. I do not feel like a stockholder with our library. I think it is crazy to support the library institution when I haven't seen them perform with their existing staff and facilities, and not be as creative with their delivery of services. They might even want to consider the proposal to create a new metro-wide library system. So I would vote to support the school referendum, but not the library referendum. Russ Peterson Ward 9 Standish R U S S E L L P E T E R S O N D E S I G N "You can only fly if you stretch your wings." 3857 23rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55407 612-724-2331 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Russell W. Peterson, RA, CID Founder
