Stop the Mediocrity

By Bill Jungbauer

Have you seen the commercials on TV? The one with the robust fellow wearing the tee-shirt with the word "Mediocrity" on it. We are told that we voted last fall to stop mediocrity in the schools. We are told that we should visit this web site http://www.schoolsfirst.org/ I had to go check this out and see who is paying for all of this high buck advertising. It is just as I have suspected, it is paid for by Education Minnesota. This organization is funded by the dues of Minnesota's teachers. This is the teachers union. Check them out at http://www.educationminnesota.org/ This happens to be the organization responsible for holding the number one spot for lobbying money spent in last years election cycle. This group had spent about 1.1 million dollars to liberal democratic candidates last year to continue to promote their propaganda campaign. They have 55 lobbyists whose duties are to influence elections and promote their agenda of squeezing as much money as they can from us. As usual, we are told they need more money for everything under the sun, yet all us taxpayers ask for, and never receive, is some accountability. In Minnesota we have one teacher for every seventeen students. This includes all the "special ed" teachers. So what do they do all day?

I am a citizen of W. St. Paul. We are paying off a school levy of over 57 million dollars. Last fall another school levy of over 2 million dollars was voted down. This was to be for technology upgrades. All fall we were subject to mailings filled with scare tactics telling us of all the cuts our children would be subject to if this levy failed. Having ran for office, I am quite familiar with the cost of mailings. This easily can run into the tens of thousands. On top of this I witnessed newspaper ads and lawn signs. Where did that money come from? Now that it has failed, we are told that 14 teachers will be cut, 7 by attrition. Office staff within the schools will be cut. Sports fields will not be maintained as well as in the past. The question that I have is, Who in the District 197 Superintendents office is getting cut? I am sure that it is no one. Of course there has been no mention of this happening.

A few months ago our esteemed Governor was at the Northern Dakota County Chamber of Commerce. The topic of the day was education. The Superintendent of district 196 was there. Where was our district Supe? No mention of him in anything that I have read.

I listen to my children's teachers whenever I get the chance. I am told that our district 197 officials never set foot in our schools. They do not have a clue as to whats going on in the schools today. I have also been told that because these administrators went to school 20, 30, or 40 years ago, they have predispositions as to how schools should be ran and have no clear, modern visions or ideas, just business as usual.

I love my children and hope that they can get the best education possible. I also have these very same wishes for all children. What I do not want is the nanny state taking over for what a parents responsibility is, and I want accountability for the taxes we pay. I also want the 197 Supe and his office to be actively involved and visible in the community.