Who Wrote This Agenda?

We here at 281 exposed are all in favor of citizen involvement.  No community ever seems to have enough people who are passionate and well-informed about the issues.  That is why District 281’s Legislative Action Coalition’s agenda is so disappointing to us.  There agenda is as following;

The State platform included support for;

Funding framework for the New Minnesota Miracle, full funding of special education, reform of integration aid, more shared services, repayment of unalloted money, funding for early childhood programs.

At the Federal level;

Reform of No Child Left Behind, more special education money, funding for Even Start Family Literacy, more early childhood education, and more after school enrichment programs.

Let’s sum that up with four words; “We want more money!”  Let’s see, thanks to some idiot judge the Legislature is now facing $4 billion deficit this year and $5.4 billion deficit in 2011-2013.  The federal government now has a $13 trillion debt!  What are the odds were are going to get “more funding for early childhood or even start programs?”  Hell, we’ll be lucky if funding just remains flat!  Why don’t we ask for EDUCATION REFORM to SAVE MONEY instead of throwing money at the problem.  And before anyone makes comments asking us “What would we do” or “What should be cut” here are a few ideas;

First, get rid of the Choice Is Yours Program.  This way we don’t have to pay money to taxi kids all around the suburbs (by the way just because the state is paying for it doesn’t make it free like some people on our school board think).  This program isn’t about choice.  If it were about choice, then everyone could do it.  It’s about social engineering.  Second, perhaps some school districts need to combine with others.  The Brooklyn Center District has only about 1800 students.  St. Louis Park has about 4000.  Why can’t these districts  combine with neighboring districts (say Brooklyn Center with us or Osseo and St. Louis Park with Hopkins for example).  That way we can eliminate administration, eliminate a superindentant making an absurd $200,000 a year, and perhaps close a school or two (talk about shared services).  We could reform “free and reduced lunch.”  We at 281 exposed are sick and tired of paying for kids to eat lunch at school.  What ever happened to bringing your own lunch?  Who is paying for lunch for these kids when they are home for the summer or winter break?  If fewer kids ate lunch at school, then maybe we would need fewer people in the kitchen staff which would reduce expenses.  Also, something has to be done to break the Union stranglehold on education reform.  The best way to do that is to bring in more competition.  If that means more charter schools, vouchers, or tuition tax credits, then let it be done.  This way people have the power not the educational establishment.  Is that enough ideas to start with?

The bottom line is that we are not going to get more funding for what the LAC is asking.  It just isn’t going to happen, not in the short run at least.  So we need to be creative or face another referendum in 2011 or 2012.