By David Behling, Tribune columnist

How many people under the age of 50 will be living here in fifty years? Will towns like Alden, Clarks Grove and Glenville still exist? Will Albert Lea still be here, or will it be just a historical marker on the highways to bigger and better things?

These are questions that haunt those of us who care about this place. When we look ahead to the next few years and beyond, with new challenges and opportunities replacing old ones, our minds are often troubled by doubt and uncertainty.

One thing that is certain about life in a place like Freeborn County is how things are always changing; we cannot keep everything the same no matter how hard we try.

Some changes come from outside, from the larger society of which we are all only a small part. Some changes are the result of things happening within the community, things that are unique to our life here, in this place.

Is there a way to make sure that changes always end up making this a better place to live? There are, of course, no guarantees, but I suspect that keeping our eyes open and planning for the coming changes, as much as is possible, will help.

Last week, as part of my duties with the Curriculum Committee for the Albert Lea School District, I participated in a strategic planning session. We were looking very systematically at future trends in this community and how the schools will be affected.

Whatever our &uot;politics&uot; are, there are some things about the future of this country and county that are going to happen no matter what.

Our population, for example, is getting older, and most Americans are having fewer children, if they have any children at all.

Ethnically, we will become a society without any &uot;majority&uot; population. The economy, and the future jobs it sustains, is going to continue to be influenced by rapid advances in technology.

How will our schools adapt to all those changes? As the school districts in this county continue to see declining enrollment, what will we do? Close schools? Raise taxes? Share or fire teachers? Consolidate districts?

As we reduce programs and eliminate teaching positions, how are we going to teach the children we do have, many who will come to school from single parent or non-English speaking families?

On the other hand, there are trends that are more political, the result of what politicians at the state and national levels are doing. The mandates involving testing and &uot;accountability&uot; are only the most recent example. Out of suspicion or contempt for teachers and the public school system, hiding behind speeches about school choice and &uot;vouchers,&uot; many state and federal politicians are increasingly willing to micro-manage local schools, forcing teachers and students to jump through hoops they set in place.

Since the new rules punish schools when they don’t meet the government’s standards (which are pretty inflexible at the moment), schools run the risk of losing even more autonomy and much of their state and federal funding. If the failure of even one student to pass a test carries so much weight, how will they respond to that kind of challenge? Will there be any time left in the school day for anything other than practicing how to take tests?

At our strategic planning session, the final question for everyone was one about what we, as individuals, were going to do as a result of the way things are changing for schools. Ultimately, it’s the most important question. Trends come and go; what we do in response to them is what matters the most.

This year, an election year, I’m going to see what the incumbents have been doing to schools over the past couple of years, and what their challengers say they will be doing differently.

I’m going to be voting for candidates committed &045; with both words and money &045; to flexible, realistic standards focused on individual students and their progress, standards that apply to all students, not just those in the much-maligned public schools. Everyone who believes in the education of children should do the same.

(David Behling is a rural resident of Albert Lea. His column appears on Tuesdays.)