Column: It’s time again for Albert Lea to consider education

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 23, 2002

In news about the Albert Lea School District, references to an &uot;excess levy&uot; are often made, by people inside and outside the district’s hierarchy. I also hear the levy talked about around town as if it were already on the November ballot.

But one of the most important steps &045; the school board’s formal approval of a referendum &045; hasn’t happened yet. If we are going to vote on a levy this year, formal approval needs to happen soon. It should have happened a couple of months ago. People in the community who care about our schools need to know for certain whether we should be preparing to lobby for a yes vote or battening down the hatches for another round of massive budget cuts.

This being said, I can understand the school board’s caution. Voters rejected the last levy request by a wide margin. I suspect that board members are trying to see how deep the support for a new levy is before moving ahead.

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And so I ask, how deep is that support? I know that most of the people I hang around with voted &uot;yes&uot; last time, and would probably vote yes again. But if I learned anything from the last school election, my circle of friends and acquaintances is probably not reflective of the average Albert Lea resident.

So how have people’s opinions about the school district and its finances changed since last November? Are they more willing to support the school board’s request for additional funds this time? Are they still angry at school administrators about parking lot fees and food service management or confused about how the money from the bond referendum can and cannot be spent? Do they still think the school district offers too many &uot;extras&uot; for students &045; like music, art and sports?

One way to find out is to call everybody in the district and ask how they would vote. But supporters of a levy called a majority of the district’s residents last time, and most said they supported the levy &045; so the evidence suggests that majority either lied or didn’t vote.

Another way to find out would be to call the question and set an election date. This is what I think should happen, despite the risks. And then after the school board makes its decision, parents, school boosters and even students who do support the school district need to take responsibility for carrying the message to the community. We need to do the persuading, by holding neighborhood meetings, by talking to our friends and relatives, by writing letters and putting up posters. Even bumper stickers might be called for.

This doesn’t mean that the district’s administrators and school board members should be completely silent. What they need to do is make the picture of a district without a levy completely clear; reveal the consequences of another $1 million dollar budget reduction. But they also need to provide a vision of what a district with a levy would look like. And this second thing is perhaps even more important than the first, because it gives us something to vote for.

Voters need to hear more than that the new levy request is simply &uot;to maintain existing programs.&uot; I’m sorry, but voting to keep things exactly the way they are right now isn’t something to get passionate about. The district has already started to put more resources into technology education, but many in this community would like to see an all day, every day kindergarten program. I would like to see a greater focus on foreign languages, starting in the elementary schools &045; when second and third languages are easier to learn. Voters need to see that the district isn’t just in a continual retreat before the specter of declining enrollment.

The district’s teachers have sacrificed their continuing education money and the state is helping out with some additional dollars for Farmland-related losses. If the district is willing to risk calling another referendum, and shows that it isn’t just interested in maintaining the status quo with the additional money, then it’s time for the locals to do their part to keep our schools great. Another no vote would be pretty devastating for everybody, no matter how they voted. It would make us look as if we just don’t believe in excellent public schools, and I don’t think that’s true.

David Rask Behling is a rural Albert Lea resident. His column appears Tuesdays.