Photos Referendum supporters Mike Wigley Resources Orono "Vote Yes" Committee Citizens Acting for Responsible Education Tools E-mail this page Print this page Sponsor

Beth Johnson and Barry Knight are working to pass four ballot questions in the Orono school district. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

In a year when state lawmakers increased funding for K-12 education, at least 90 Minnesota school districts are seeking voter approval on Tuesday to raise local property taxes. In the Orono school district alone, voters will decide four ballot questions that total more than $46 million. The money would go toward operating expenses and facility improvements. But opponents say the proposed spending is too much, and they've hired a controversial consultant to help them orchestrate an Election Day defeat.

Long Lake, Minn. — The Orono school system serves all or part of six affluent communities in the west metro area. In this district, test scores and household incomes are enviably high. Parents like Barry Knight are proud of the public schools and want to keep them strong. Knight is working to pass the proposed tax increases as a volunteer on the Orono "Vote Yes" Committee.

"But I don't look at it as a tax," Knight says. "I look at it as an investment; an investment in our community, an investment in those kids, the ones that are there now and the ones that will be there that aren't there today, and an investment really in the economic vitality of this whole geographical area that comprises the Orono school district."

The school district's spending proposals are ambitious even by Orono standards. The $46 million total price tag dwarfs any previous referendum, and some homeowners are resisting. Mike Wigley, with the opposition group called Citizens Acting for Responsible Education (CARE), claims the spending proposals are excessive.

"The more I looked at the facts, the more I became convinced that the district was not spending the money wisely, and that they were in fact wasting an awful lot of money," Wigley says. "And really the voters should send them back to the drawing boards to come up with a better, more cost-effective, more efficient approach to the needs of the school district."

Wigley knows a good tax fight when he sees one. He's the chairman of the politically-shrewd Taxpayers League of Minnesota. Wigley insists he's fighting the Orono referendum as a private citizen.

The opposition group has turned instead to another anti-tax crusader, one who specializes in defeating school district votes. Paul Dorr of Ocheyedan, Iowa, has led dozens of opposition campaigns. He's also written extensively about his own personal disdain for government-run schools. Critics claim Dorr is an enemy of public education.

Les Norman, superintendent of the Lake Crystal-Welcome-Memorial school district, fought off an attack led by Dorr last September.

"He does distort information and he has no qualms about that," Norman says. "You have to understand that this is an individual who's goal is to not have public education. He wants to see the demise of public education, period. He wants to see that happen through defeating bond referendums."

Norman says his small rural school district near Mankato was able to pass its bond referendum by quickly responding to the misinformation spread by the opposition.

Paul Dorr declined to comment for this story, saying only that he doesn't do interviews while working on a campaign.

In Orono, Dorr's involvement to this point has been largely invisible. Still, he's caused considerable concern among referendum supporters.

Beth Johnson, chairwoman of the Orono "Vote Yes" Committee, is fearful of an all out assault in the final days of the campaign.

"I'm outraged," Johnson says. "I'm concerned that he is going to come into our community and distort facts, take a tiny bit of the truth and twist it and cause divisiveness in the community and pack his bags and move on."

There's nothing unusual about a consultant helping out on a school referendum. It's just rare when they work for the opposition. Paul Dorr is changing the rules each time he shows up in another Minnesota school district. Mike Wigley says hiring Dorr helped even the playing field in Orono.

"I think if we had not hired Paul we would not have nearly as rich a fact base to share with people," Wigley says. "It's a function of focus in a relatively short amount of time and he had the time and energy to do that. He's delivered a lot of value to us."

The Orono school district is using one ballot question to try to increase operating revenue by $7.8 million over 10 years. A second question would generate $7.5 million for computer technology upgrades. The remaining two questions, if approved, would provide up to $31 million to cover 10 years worth of school maintenance projects.