RE: [Winona] Referendum:Vision

[Stephen Hacken]

[Winona Online Democracy]

Excellent post Rich. The only thing that I would veer from is that I believe it is important that the sports programs attempt to be competitive and have the opportunity to advance to state competition at times. As a referee who has officiated a number of Minnesota State High School League state tournaments, I can tell you that the excitement and school spirit that exists for all students, not just the participants, is phenomenal.   Most parents that have school aged children want all the things Rich wants. I believe non-parents generally want those same things--they just want somebody else to pay for them.   Are referendums a way of life in Minnesota? I think so and I doubt that is going to change. There is currently the thought that state taxes are too high and are keeping businesses out of the state. Also, while business taxes are higher than most states, house taxes throughout Minnesota are reasonable when compared to other states, especially Wisconsin. Therefore, it appears that the lawmakers are forcing property taxes up by using referendums as a way to fund schools. This way they can say that they did not raise taxes, the local residents did.   This is a great item of discussion. However, many more questions than answers.   Steve Hacken     -----Original Message----- From: Rich [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 6:09 PM To: 'Online Democracy' Subject: [Winona] Referendum:Vision Given #1) There will be some people who will vote NO on any referendum EVEN IF THEY AGREE WITH THE NEED because they honestly feel they can't afford it. This goes to the basic problems of using property taxes to fund schools. Property taxes are more stable but less fair than other forms of taxes. I'll leave the 'fairness' issue for a different thread.   Given #2) There are some people who have little or no faith in the current school board and/or administration because of decisions that have been made in the past. There is 'some' indication that with time, these people can regain the trust that was lost.   Therefore, I'm left hoping that with a year for the school board and administration to regain the trust, we can approach the community with a referendum next year that has a better chance of success. Of course, the need/desire for a referendum will only be necessary if 1) The community is convinced the district is acting in a financially prudent and trustworthy manner AND 2) The existing revenues continue to fail to meet this communities Vision of what public education should be.   There's the rub!   What is our community's vision for public education? Several years ago I put forth a cyber challenge for WOD to help define what the community's vision is. The challenge was met with a very large cyber THUD! I fail to see how we can argue we pay too much in taxes or for that matter that the state/feds contributes too little for education when we don't know what it is we need to pay for!   That being said, is it possible to begin a thread that drives toward this communities vision about what the public education system is supposed to provide?    1.    Should it include a strong music program? (In my opinion yes) 2.    Should it include a strong theatre program? (In my opinion yes) 3.    Should it include a strong athletic program? (In my opinion, the program should provide options and opportunities for all who are interested but I’m not terribly worried about staffing to develop a state champion in any particular sport). 4.    Should it include a strong college prep programming? My apologies if my vernacular isn’t correct by I think you know what I mean. (In my opinion yes) 5.    Should our district continue to focus on having a stronger than average Special Education/Needs program even though it isn’t fully funded? (In my opinion yes) 6.    Should our district provide all day kindergarten even though it isn’t fully funded? (In my opinion yes). 7.    Should our district provide (fill in the blank here)?   As you can tell, I’m an unabashed supporter of public education (and of all those ridiculous school board members that put themselves through hundreds of hours of grief every year for practically $0.05/hr).   Is there any chance of developing a community wide vision that we could all support?   Rich Pflughoeft

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