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Idea for: Education
Fund your school to the hilt Small, rural communities that lose their elementary school soon die a quick death. In most small towns, the school is the center of all activity and the last hope of survival for the town. People in small towns must sacrifice to fund their school to make it the best in the area -- otherwise, kids bussed to a larger town at a larger school don't tend to shop downtown as much, which causes a domino effect that can kill. People should bend over backward to fund their school to the hilt. From Ben Adams of Mankato, MN on 05/19/05
Rating:  Small town schools create a bond with the community that doesn't exist in most large cities. Small isn't always better, but it's more personal. The students, teachers, parents and administrators are more connected. From Joseph Mish of Pine Island, MN on 05/28/05 Rating:  Maintaining a good school in a small town requires quality leadership. Small town schools can be deplorable or excellent depending upon how the people in the community support their school. The financial support needs to be there but so does the leadership that expects educational excellence and high standards. The focus of the community needs to be on meeting the educational needs of the students, not on keeping a school open for the survival of the town. From Robert Kutter of Grey Eagle, MN on 05/27/05 Rating: Unless two small K-12 schools are about to die because falling enrollment, Consolidation has not the solution, rather it has created more problems. Two towns consolidated ten years ago and the smaller town is still anger, but they were not willing to fund the improvements needed by their school. Also small towns need to grow or they will slowly die as the existing people die. Yes this creates mega cities, but do we have a choice? From Jan Fisher of Pine Island, MN on 05/26/05 Rating: Extremely small schools are not economically feasible as the cost per student increases, but keeping class sizes small (under 20 per teacher) has been shown to be very effective in maintaining quality education. Whether keeping an elementary school in town is the key to supporting small town businesses is highly questionable, as there are so many other factors affecting the small town economy: location, overall economic growth, competition in the area, etc. From Mary Sullivan of Franklin, MN on 05/26/05 Rating: Small town values. Quality education. Quiet, friendly neighborhoods. Safe and secure. Add technology to connect to the world. People dream of these kinds of places. A cheap house with high taxes that provides a great school district beats the crap out of an expensive house with high taxes and an average-to-poor school. From Don Larson of Crosslake, MN on 05/26/05 Rating:  Education is our only way to move ahead. We must see to it that the rural schools are every bit as good, maybe even better, that the richest suburbs. Many families will look towards either locating or re-locating to a small town if there is a GREAT school and future opportunity for the children. ( as us!) From Alan Aleckson of Brooklyn Park, MN on 05/26/05 Rating: I agree, but we need to be clear that we will have to keep funding our schools forever. The current state of education is unsustainable. More and more schools will fail under our current government. Let's put a stop to stop-gap budgeting and massive teacher cuts, and give them what they need now. From Mark Anderson of Madelia, MN on 05/26/05 Rating:  Unfortunately, we've subsidized mega-schools in Willmar, Brainerd, and dozens of smaller towns that sap the strength of neighborhood schools. Districts increasingly want to "save costs" by merging schools, yet the promised savings, and quality, simply aren't there. The Minneapolis Public Library system is an example of the Taj Mahal approach that underfunds local libraries for a monument to centralization: Hennepin County's approached to multi-use regional libraries works better. From Jamie Wellik of Golden Valley, MN on 05/25/05 Rating: I just recently heard a story on MPR about a "third world" country who chose to fund education and health care INSTEAD OF a testosterone supplementing military (Costa Rica?) They have a booming economy! Hmmmmm! (I wonder if they are a target for CIA "disruption"?) From Leland Rueb of Onamia, MN on 05/25/05 Rating: I agree that schools must be well funded, but that does not mean they can't make the most of the dollars available. I recently reviewed scholarship applications from high school students and was not impressed with the grammer or spelling. These kids are not ready for post-secondary education. I applaud the U of M for eliminating their "general college" and calling attention to the poor job high schools are doing preparing students for a meaningful university experience. From M Peterson of Glenwood, MN on 05/22/05 Rating: brilliant! From Steve Law of saint paul, MN on 05/21/05 Rating: Funding schools is a job creator and a rural town saver. However, the state has to step up and realize that you can't have World-Class schools on a Third-World budget. The state needs to fund schools to the hilt as well. From Greg Abbott of St. Peter, MN on 05/20/05 Rating: From Greg Abbott of St. Peter, MN on 05/20/05 Rating: From VIctoria Ford of Saint Paul, MN on 05/20/05 Rating: Without a school, rural towns may as well be flushed down the feedlot pipe. From Jenny Nelson of Mankato, MN on 05/19/05
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