[Winona Online Democracy]
Kudos to Steve Hacken and Rich P for bringing out some important big
picture realities. Yes, keeping state funding low and forcing local
districts to try to raise their property taxes is a simple shell game..."we
kept our pledge, it's those darned school people who raised your taxes."
For this state of affairs, we need to thank the anti-tax dogma of the
Pawlenty administration and the Republican House leadership of Speaker
Steve Sviggum, who represents Goodview, Rollingstone and other parts of our
area. I think there's hope that a more balanced approach to funding MN
schools may result from the dramatic narrowing of the Republican majority
in the state House.
Unfortunately, about the best we can hope for in the Levy aftermath is that
the situation won't be quite as bad as it is now, if and when the State
budget provides some funding increases. And that won't come soon enough or
be large enough to stave off the cuts we'll be facing this time around.
We've been through the same discussion and the same grim reality over and
over again.
I might want to add a couple of things to Rich's vision list, such as:
* providing educational services for parents and families
* career education and experiential learning for students who are
not planning to attend 4-year colleges
* opportunities at all levels to increase awareness and
appreciation of cultural diversity
I'm sure I could think of more. That's the problem with vision lists. We
could create a long list that everyone could agree that we want. The tough
part would be creating any agreement about what makes the final cut and
what doesn't. So in a sense, aren't you back where you started, sharpening
up the ax one more time and wondering which way to swing it?
----------
"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely
challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn
between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world.
This makes it hard to plan the day."
-- E. B. White
sent by:
Scott Lowery
461 Sunnyview Drive, Rollingstone MN 55969
home phone: (507)689-4532
school phone: (507)454-9573 (Winona Area Learning Center)
home email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
school email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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