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Dear Current Leaders of Minnesota, Governor Pawlenty, Speaker of the House Kelliher, Senate Majority Leader Pogemiller: I am trying to find the words to adequately convey the amount of stress and exhaustion I am feeling. Writing this letter is difficult because I am extremely exhausted and don't sleep well at night due to thinking about the school my two children attend. I am a parent of two children that attend Frazee-Vergas Public School. I graduated from Frazee, my husband graduated from Frazee, my parents graduated from Frazee, my aunts and uncles graduated from Frazee, my husband's mother and aunts graduated from Frazee, among several cousins that...graduated from Frazee. So you can probably guess...I want my children to keep the tradition and graduate from Frazee. Back in February 2007, two concerned mothers and I went to St. Paul to find out ways to keep our school vital. We then started a group called PACE (Parents and Community for Education) with the hopes of gaining support and unity for ISD #23, our hometown school Frazee-Vergas. At the beginning of the year, we started developing ideas, events, and marketing tools with an SOS message (Support Our School). We organized and performed 3 fundraising events to fund a campaign for an operating referendum. We collected 900 signatures of support for the school board, made 1000's of voter info calls, attended every public meeting concerning the school, and held weekly meetings with the PACE Committee group. Personally, I can not even count the amount of hours spent trying to accomplish this goal of saving our school and ultimately our town. It is a know fact, when schools close... the town closes too. I spent approximately 750 hours trying to reach this goal (that number does not count the "laying awake in bed thinking" hours). That's just me personally. There are 10 committee members and dozens of people, who would volunteer for specific events. That is how I spent my summer. I should say that is how I spent my 2007 year! Both you and me, I didn't join this effort because I had nothing else better to do. The kids being educated right now are the future...they are the future surgeons, future judges, future engineers, future firefighters, future military, future governors. They are the ones that will take care of us when we are old and in need of care. Shouldn't they be taken care of now when they are young and in need of education? The formula isn't working, that is evident by all these schools having to seek school levies. School funding isn't working, that is evident by the extreme cuts schools are having to do. Tomorrow (November 6th) is a big day for us and many other schools in Minnesota, I hope it is also a day for big understanding in the Capitol regarding a funding make-over for our public schools. Please listen to the people November 7th, who are gathering at the Capitol Room 125. Please our schools are in a time of crisis and we are sending out an SOS! S.O.S. Support Our Schools | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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