Please Introduce Yourself What's your connection to St. Paul public schools? mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________
It appears that most people are addressing their connections to schools issues, and I failed to do that earlier, aside from saying I attended both public and parochial schools growing up in St. Paul. I�m a graduate of St. Paul Central High School (�57). I have uncles and cousins who attended all manner of private and public schools � SPA, Breck, Cretin, St. Thomas, and Central � and they all support public education. My children were graduated from Central in the early to mid-80s, a couple of them after attending Highland Jr. High and Webster Magnet. My granddaughter�s in 3rd grade at Webster. What public education bashers don�t get is the role public education has and always will play in both the development of the nation�s future workforce and in the stabilization, maintenance and increase in property values in every community. It does no good to bash the public schools, even if you send your own child to private schools. If you neglect the public part of a society�s education mandate, you�re shooting yourself in the foot in more ways than one: 1. The values of your investment in your homestead and other properties will drop proportionately. 2. An ill-prepared workforce, not to mention that of your own kids, pushes our local, national and global competitiveness to rock bottom, creating overwhelming unemployment and, thus, significant increases in public assistance and other kinds of dependence and as a cause of a rising crime rate. Private education can only supplement, not supplant, public education � both in space and funding, and, thus, in preparing the next generation to run their own families, let alone their communities. Any other route is a dangerous slide. Andy Driscoll Crocus Hill ------ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
