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I am co-chair of a group working to pass a local levy for Stillwater Area Public Schools. I thought you might be interested in my final letter to the editor of the local papers. Beverly Petrie Stillwater, MN It’s just a few days until the election, and as co chair of the Yes to Kids! campaign, I can’t wait for this to be over. My family feels the same. With a few others, I started to pull this effort together six months ago. For the past three months, I’ve worked, as a volunteer, 40 to 70 hours a week on this campaign. And I’m not alone. There are several others who have worked just as hard, and many others who have worked “only” 20 or so hours a week. I say all this not to get your sympathy, but to make a point: This is no way to fund a public school system. Nearly 30 years ago, when the Stillwater community passed its first levy for the schools, levies were for extras. They were for band uniforms and artists in residence. Now, all those things are paid for, if they exist at all, by parents doing fundraising in the individual schools. The levies have become an indispensable part of providing a no-frills education to our students. This has happened because state funding over the past 14 years has not even come close to keeping up with inflation. And the ramifications of this underfunding are huge when you consider that the state pays for nearly 80 percent of the District’s operating funds. A local levy cannot hope to make up for the underfunding from the state, but without it we are sunk. I commend the School Board and the administration for the admirable work they have done to keep duct-taping this District together year after year. It is astonishing to me that our test scores can even keep steady, much less rise over the years while our class sizes have been creeping steadily upward. It is a testament to the skill and experience of our well-seasoned teachers, who I believe are worth every penny we pay them. Once this effort is all done, and we can get back to our normal lives, I would hope that the next campaign is a statewide effort to change the way we fund our schools. Cities don’t have to beg constituents for funds. Neither do counties, or any other unit of government. Why do we force parents, administrators and board members to spend countless hours rattling the tin cup every few years just to get the funds necessary to provide a basic education? This is a cause we could all unite behind, no matter our position on this current referendum. I will be going to the polls on Nov. 6 with relief, exhaustion and hope. I will be voting Yes-Yes-Yes. Please join me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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