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Published March 11, 2010

Letter: Learning from Pawlenty chat

By John Burns, Willmar, West Central Tribune

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Rick C.
Willmar, MN     03/17/2010 9:19 PM

And Ben I have no problem with the "good and decent local people who are doing their best for our kids.". But they could do and even better job if the government would get their noses out of education and let the local boards, administrations and teachers do their jobs.

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steve p.
03/17/2010 8:30 PM

Darn! I didn't get home in time to log the 69th comment.

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Ben C.
03/17/2010 8:15 PM

Rick show me the "government offical" in the District Office of Willmar Public Schools. My POINT Rick was Government does not run the day to day operations of a school, we the local people have that impact. Mandates that are unfunded are indeed wrong and a big problem, and the funding is a huge mess, but at the end of the day it is the local control NOT the Government that makes sure the day goes well and they are the last to leave the building and turn the lights off. Don't put Government in places that it is not, because all that does is give people an excuse to bash the good and decent local people who are doing their best for our kids. That Rick was my point.

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Rick C.
Willmar, MN     03/17/2010 4:15 PM

here

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Rick C.
Willmar, MN     03/17/2010 3:21 PM

Ben if you don't think government is "running" education you have been out in the sun too long, which lately has been very difficult to do around her. One of the schools "funding" problems is unfunded mandates. The biggest underfunded mandate is special education. The Feds and the State need to fund it at the level promised so districts don't have to use general fund moneys to support it. The State and Fed governments should not be dictating subjects or standards.

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Ben C.
03/17/2010 1:26 PM

Come and see Jon, come and see.

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John S.
03/17/2010 1:24 PM

Ben I gotta run, but you know the old saw, the one that controls the purse strings run the show, but under the present system Ben, not to worry, it will only get worse---incrementally!!

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Ben C.
03/17/2010 1:16 PM

John I do think you should compliment the good folks I believe in Miami/Dade County for investing tax dollars into Early Childhood programs. Pretty impressive how they came together. One last point of clarity Jon, Government doesn't "run" education it "funds" education. You should come up here sometime and meet the local folks who actually "run" the schools in our area. Great teachers, administrators, support staff, and school board members all around the Willmar area. They have all done a good job of "running" the schools even though the State and Feds keep screwing up the proper "funding" of them!

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Rick C.
Willmar, MN     03/17/2010 1:03 PM

First you must quantify and define what education you are determining a cost for BEN. 1 teacher and 30 students or 1 teacher and 15 students. What level of support services, what extra curicular activities. Transportation? Bldg upkeep and maintenance? How are you defining it? If you just want an average Take the State Education Budget and divide it by the # of students.

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John S.
03/17/2010 12:05 PM

Well Ben , forgive me for having such dark thoughts, but as you must surely know in Fl. we have no state Inc. tax, however they tax everything else that is not nailed down, so as close as i can ascertain the answer to your question would be yes I do pay taxes in Fl. but as their is no state Inc. tax, I obviously don't pay one. As for the education mess in Mn. in reality it is no different than any other state where public education run by the Gov. which in matter of fact pretty much makes it a monopoly ,is in dire straits, as such situations are inevitable eventually , similar ventures have been tried forever, and have been forever failing eventually, the key word here is "eventually".

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