I note the cry over the laying off of school teachers, which is very sad. We are a nation that needs all the trained and educated people we can get. The rest of the world is ahead of us.

The blame should not fall on the school board or the superintendent. The Legislature does not provide the money; and in the case of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, he would have vetoed any tax for increased spending.

So here we sit locally! The lady in charge of paying the bills told me, “We will need to borrow $2.4 million to get the bills paid.” If you have not fainted and died, read what she said again.

The schools all over the state are faced with the same thing. Every night the Rochester TV has a horror story of millions more to fund their schools.

The Legislature has proposed a $410 million cut in higher education for the vocational schools and universities back to 1999 levels. But, there are 50,000 more students enrolled in these schools than there were in 1999.

Folks, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat should not be in charge of funding education; nor should it be on real estate. Since Adam Smith in the 18th century we have known that fair taxation should be based on income earned. Those are the grim facts.

Tony Sutton, the chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, said there will be no tax increase of any kind, and he is the man who knows.

A “true need” we have is gambling money for a Vikings football stadium. All the Twin Cities sports writers are tooting the horns for billionaire owners and the millionaire players. How that educates the people we need to run a state and nation is beyond me.

Robert Sherman

Albert Lea