Well, reading WizardMarks expand on his view of 35W access, I think I now understand how some people pushed through Highway 55 in my neighborhood. Get enough assumed benefits together and suddenly it is a religious mission. I guess that is what drives Al Qaeda, too, the belief that no opposing argument can hope to divert the sense of destiny. But I've heard enough protests from people living in the community who aren't seeing "the vision" to think that maybe a reality-check is wanted here. Has Wiz ever questioned his original correctness?
As to teacher training, I think it is a good thing, but I'm not so sure that is the source of learning problems now. A teacher who is certified to teach SHOULD have the skills to handle learning needs of children. My mother taught children when she was a teenager based on normal school training. My relative Ivar who taught back in the middle of the 19th century had no teaching certificate at all but just took students he would teach in the homes of settlers. I believe the training bit is the last place to look for problems in education at this time. Michael Atherton wants us to believe it is lack of current research that hampers our school boards, but until he can tell me he's successfully taught, I'm going to regard that as a campaign tactic, one the voters didn't take very seriously. The following may not be Minneapolis news, but it does show another city grappling with fiscal problems: NYC Mayor's New Budget Socks Commuters, Unions "But suburban commuters for the first time will be asked to pay the same income tax as city residents. And the new levy would be six times higher than the previous commuter tax. Commuters -- as well as city dwellers -- will also for the first time have to pay tolls on some east river crossings, a plan that will raise $200 million by the end of 2004. But motorists might not have to wait in line at toll plazas; instead a high tech reader will charge the drivers, perhaps by scanning license plates or by reading a transponder on their cars. Diana Fortuna, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog, said that the income tax hike might not trigger immediate job losses. "But I think it's definitely damaging to the city's competitiveness. Bloomberg dismissed concerns that his tax hikes would push people and jobs out of the city. "I don't think it's realistic to say people today are threatening to move out of the city." The new commuter tax outraged Republican New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, who called it a feudal tax policy that would pit city against state. Some 252,000 residents of his state spend $2,500 a year in the city, he said, adding New York State collects nearly $2 billion in taxes from New Jersey commuters. " (Reuters, 11/14/2002) -------------------------------------------------- See that the TNT hearing is scheduled when I work. Well, it promises to be a show so I GUESS I'll need to schedule time off work so as not to miss it. Probably get to hear some of the list members talk. -------------------------------------------------- Thoughts about Minneapolis' future? Email your input to [EMAIL PROTECTED] until January 1, 2003 Jim Mork Cooper Neighborhood __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
