Mr. Mork assumes far too much. In one breath he asks Mr. Shilepsky to look
in the mirror because his voting has caused the decline of public education,
and makes assumptions lacking any foundation about my children. I wonder
how he knows which candidates Mr. Shilepsky voted for. He also assumes my
children received a bad education, an assumption I can assure you is
incorrect. I and my wife were the type to fight like lions and spend three
or four hours a day to make sure a dyslexic child received an education. To
do this I also bullied teachers and administrators, and threatened legal
action. I can well imagine what the result would have been without my being
the jerk that I have a gift and talent for.
Mr. Mork states, "My mother spent the last 20 years of her teaching
> career catering to this kind of child. Don't try
> to tell me there's a general problem meeting it.
I would guess that it would be hard to "tell" an assuming person much, even
if one has actual experience in the matter. Mr. Mork and others should be
aware that funding is not the answer to education. Teachers who can teach
and families who participate in their children's education are the things
that create good education, not funding. Minneapolis' public education
system is prima fascia proof of this.
Mr. Mork writes, "This is a red herring. That is NOT why your child
> received a poor education. You should start
> considering that the political party that made
> the promise every election to stop tax increases
> has major responsibility in the failure of many
> school children. We were able to fund Target
> Center when we could not fund needed school
> programs. Explain that one to me."
Honestly, my children receiving a bad education would NOT be my preference,
and not a "Red Herring". How can stating a preference be "Red Herring"
unless there has been some kind of assumption on the part of the reader.
There is an old proverb from eastern philosophy that would seem to apply to
explaining things to a person who has assumed enough to have his mind made
up.
It is, " It is impossible to pour even the most pure of water or sweet of
wine into a full glass." There simply is not room. What some in Minneapolis
need to do is empty their glasses a little of preset concepts about
education, so as to allow room for at least the possibility of a differing
idea. One of the first to empty out is that political parties determine the
quality of education.
Being a "good" democrat I do not ever remember voting for a Republican
running for School Board.(Though I have from time to time voted for a
Republican running for something else) So I must assume Mr. Mork is
referring to the Democratic Party being the problem. While they funded the
Target Center, I do not remember Democrats promising to stop tax increases.
Mr. Mork may have gotten the two parties so co-mingled in his assumptions
that he is not sure which did what. Is it possible that others also are
mistakenly making such assumptions and unable to tell who is doing what in
education? Neither party seems to have much of a handle on education either,
though both seem to have a real talent for throwing money away. They just
have different political friends to throw it at! Money is not the reason for
failing school children, low expectations and a failed education system is.
Unfortunately those with answers probably would not be listened to. Some
would be far too busy basking in the righteousness of their social theory to
consider the data collected by the harsh reality of experience "Navigating"
the dark corridors and shoals of the Minneapolis School System.
Will Rogers said, "Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that
comes from bad judgment." I think it is time our politicians used the good
judgment they should have acquired from experience with a whole lot of the
bad kind.
Jim Graham,
Ventura Village
>The rarest of gems, with the greatest clarity, and with the
>greatest brilliance, is not the diamond.
>The rarest of all gems is the truth.
>Yet as scarce as truth is, the supply has always far
>exceeded any demand for it. In fact it may well be the
>lest desirable commodity in the Universe.
>Ask any politician.
- An old Gemologist
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