Recently Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced a "revolutionary" new plan that would require Minnesota public schools to dedicate 70 percent of their revenues to the classroom. He soundly criticized opponent Attorney General Mike Hatch for not embracing this notion. What the governor did not tell you is that the Minnesota public schools presently are spending 69-plus percent of revenues on classroom expenditures. It seems clear that there was an attempt to pull the public into a non-issue debate.
What should concern the public are the education-related actions taken by the governor. He cut funding for schools by $185 million for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 school years. He also cut $386 million from state colleges and universities while proposing a wage freeze for teachers statewide.
Mike Hatch, on the other hand, believes education should be the state's highest priority with guaranteed funding. He favors a comprehensive early-childhood-to-college plan including smaller class sizes, affordable tuition and opportunities for all students to succeed. He also supports treating teachers as professionals.
Should voters be pulled into "non-issues" or allowed to see what is really going on? We think you can decide.
Ruth Trageser
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Spicer
JoAnn Hoeck
Willmar
