Editorial: Vote for the NRHEG levy

Published 7:31 am Friday, October 2, 2009

Another autumn in Minnesota brings another slew of school levies. Fifty-eight schools districts have levy requests on the ballot for November.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva is among them. Voters will decide whether to approve another $450 per pupil, which works out to about $460,000 a year in the district’s coffers.

This newspaper endorses the approval of the NRHEG referendum.

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The way Minnesota has pinched its schools is atrocious for a state that once prided itself on education. If any district wants to keep up, wants to remain a good place to raise a family, voters must approve levies — often to assist in basic education.

Lest NRHEG voters wish to let their district slip, they should vote yes on Nov. 3.

It is their way of making up for the ways their state leaders have failed them.

Between unequal state funding, state payment deferrals and a convoluted per-pupil funding system, districts are spending reserves or taking loans. Minnesota schools need help.

But until that help arrives, all school districts can do is ask their voters to lend a hand.

If you own a $100,000 home in the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva School District, the levy works out to about $8 a month. That’s a reasonable amount to give to the community’s children. That’s a reasonable amount to show NRHEG pride.