His main contention is that education is a black hole. If black hole is defined as "more money than an incremental annual bump which is what would be comfortable," than that is true. The problem is, the last time any energy was spent to study what it costs to educate a child was the early 1970's. Since that time we have had additional awareness of the importance of inclusion, raising the costs of special education; and we've had an enormous increase in diversity of the population. Many basic costs have astronomically increased as well - utilities, wages, food. Despite these significant increased costs however, no measure of them has been taken. Instead we've increased the budget according to what was available or comfortable. It's like not knowing what you're checking account balance is, spending money at will, and then not being able to keep up once the NSF notices start piling up. It gets astronomical, and that's what's happening here. At the same time, this is a state that prides itself on its educational system. Further, there has recently been a great deal of conversation statewide about the need for a superior education system to keep up in the new economy. What would a great governor do in this situation? A great governor would commission a new study to determine the cost of educating a child in Minnesota today and in the future - establishing a new basis for statewide funding of K-12 education. This would need to take into account population differences in differing districts and federal shortfalls, so that Minneapolis could cease to be punished for its diverse community. Or, we can choose a contentious process more like, say, a pro wrestling match or a football game. Hmmm, which is more likely? Will Ventura stay true to his roots, or will he progress to adequately meet the needs of his constituency? Claire Stokes SW Area Parent's Council Citizen's Budget Advisory Council 62B _______________________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
