District 833 Ignoring the Voices of the People Again...

Back in March, South Washington School District 833 voted to eliminate 22 teaching positions, increase walking distances for middle/high schoolers and eliminate four administrative support positions in order to save $2.2 million from the budget.  They will vote on the final budget in June, after they see how much taxpayer money Governor Dayton and his DFL cronies will be giving to the insatiable school districts this year and next.  The district recently presented a survey to 400 residents that was meant to gauge the community's feelings about the district, the superintendent, the board, the teachers and whether or not the community would support a levy renewal this fall and/or an increased levy renewal this fall, as well as community support for providing all students with personal computing devices such as tablets or iPads.

Even though the survey revealed that only 6% of the people support individual computer devices for students in the district, the powers that be have just rolled out a new initiative: "T3=Transforming Thinking Through Technology."  This should be no surprise to anyone who attended Superintendent Keith Jacobus's "Parent University" forums, which basically are a sales pitch for balance balls and more "movement" in the classrooms (exercise miraculously increases test scores; active kids do better in school; if that's the case, my kids should all be geniuses, but I digress...) as well as how iPads will add to the children's learning experiences in the classroom.  Not only add to it, but also (not completely of course...) replace traditional teaching methods, like books, since everything can now be in digital formats and teachers will be able to add content as they please.

The concept, from an education standpoint is interesting, so it is unsurprising that the district is preparing to roll out this initiative, especially considering that Keith Jacobus, Ron Kath, Jeff Jorgensen and Randi Anderson enjoyed an all expense paid (by Apple) trip (except for airfare) to Apple, Inc. in March.  It makes one wonder - if the district agrees to purchase, say, MacBooks for all the teachers, then they get a trip to Apple, Inc. (in California) to learn "How to Bring Common Sense Back to Their District," then suddenly they roll out an initiative that will put iPads in the hands of students in 4K - as in the District's PRESCHOOLS - as well as in select elementary, middle and high schools, with the goal to eventually have iPads available to all 17k+ students in the district, how expensive to the district taxpayers that all-expense paid trip to Apple really was? It would seem that it would be to the tune of about $7 MILLION, which in the end, isn't really a free trip for four administrators, is it? And where does that include "bringing critical thinking back to the district"?

The irony is that if these four administrators were anything but part of a school district - say they were in any other public office - that all-expense paid trip would actually break the State's Gift Ban law, which makes it illegal for state officials to accept anything worth more than $5 from anyone.  Somehow, school officials are not included under that law even though Apple, Inc. is a registered lobbyist in the State of Minnesota.

Once again, our District is happily ignoring the people and what they want - remember the Budget battle where keeping teachers had the most support of the people and that was the first thing the Board and Administration decided to cut? - and are pushing forward with their plan for iPads for students regardless of the fact that 94% of the people in the community said they didn't support that initiative.

Cherish Life

I've never been in a tornado.  One time, as a kid, we were on a family vacation in the ol' station wagon and witnessed several tornadoes dropping down, then disappearing back into the clouds as we drove down the highway.  Another time, as a 20-something, on the way home from St. Cloud, my friend and I witnessed a tornado as it hit the town of Monticello one summer evening.  There have been storms when the sky turned green and ominous, the sirens screamed, so we dashed with the kids to the basement, cursing our decision to use Dish Network, since the signal is always lost in storms.  In the summer of '96, I awoke for what seemed to be no reason, looked out the window and watched the US flag outside the local school stand stiff in the wind.  I woke up my husband, jumped out of bed and grabbed my little toddler girl.  We ran to the basement as our house was pelted with rain and debris caught up in the high mph straight-line winds.  We looked for any information on the TV, but once the storm crossed the St. Croix river, the Twin Cities' news stations stopped covering the storm.  The next day, the damage was terrible - whole roofs had been torn off houses and a grocery store, garage doors destroyed, windows broken, litter everywhere.  A line of cars traveled down our streets with gawking "disaster tourists" staring out the windows.  But, our house remained standing,  and the three of us were safe and sound.

Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

The devastation caused by the huge tornado in Moore, Oklahoma is a reminder of how quickly our lives can change.  It reminds us how precious and fragile life is - how unpredictable a "normal" day can be.  My heart breaks for the families who lost loved ones, especially those mamas and daddies who kissed their little ones goodbye that day without a thought that those little people may not be returning home that night.  The survivor stories are ones of courage, bravery, and selflessness.  How those parents whose children made it through the storm must be thankful for their families being spared the heartache of others', while also wondering why they were spared and others were not - how does one get over that "survivor guilt"? How does one comfort those parents who's children are still missing - praying for them to be found alive?

It is times like this when Americans show their toughness and generosity - in the coming days, more stories of bravery and heroism will come out, as well as stories of the kindnesses of strangers.  It is times like these that we forget what makes us different from one another, and remember that we are all Americans - countrymen/women - and will help one another in these times of need.

Glenn Beck and a crew of people headed to Oklahoma last night with two trailer-loads of supplies and offers to help the victims of the tragedy.  Please go to his charitable website, MercuryOne, to donate to the 2013 Midwest Tornado Relief fund.  At this time, over $500,000 has already been raised, but the scope of the devastation shows that much more will be needed to help the communities working to rebuild.

We must come together and help one another in times of need.  Please help out by donating what you can.