I voted yesterday to raise my property taxes to benefit the children of the Robbinsdale School District. Note that I do not have children in the Robbinsdale School District.
But thanks to affluent, white Republicans, the school district was denied the funding they asked for:
Robbinsdale
The school levy for the Robbinsdale schools failed to pass, with 9,660 votes yes (47 percent) and 10,733 votes no (53 percent).
We all love to bitch about the education system and we all suffer the economic losses related to undereducated people and yet we say no every time these honest, smart and well-meaning people ask us to fund the constitutional mandate that they are charged with.
It’s stupid as hell and the people that voted against this are selfish twits.
lolife 
I am 180 with nearly everything micadelic states.
Dist 196 is fine. Quite fine, not the best, amongst the best. Dist 196 has been hurt by this admin. but luckily has a tax base large enough to deal with most of the impacts brought on by NCLB and your lunatic Gov.
Vouchers? I believe they support the “haves” more than the “have nots”. Home schooling is fine, but they often “cherry pick” the supportive services from the district that they desire…ie….special services, extra-curricular etc…
I also do not agree with the “older established areas” most seniors would be happy to support education if they were not being completely reamed over with health care and prescription drugs… sorry different topic
We hammer on schools and the teachers unions but yet they damn well better: teach em, feed em, support em, counsel em, and keep them safe and secure and in school …so we can go to work…
my property tax is just shy of 5 grand a year…
I think about 38-40% of that is for education.
When my boys were both in daycare I paid $600 a month…that was years ago, I am sure I can’t find that price now for infants?? A friend with a 2 year old pays 500 a month…that is your free market at work…
What does it cost to go to Blaine? or is it “The Blaine School?” someone told me it was 30K a year..I am sure it is an outstanding school…I am sure it has more stringent rules than dist 196…I am sure you have less flexibility and fewer options for the student….I am sure they have a higher test scores.. and I am sure they “broom” the ones they do not want.
The public schools take them all. “All” of them..and provide an unbelievable level of service for the individual student….
sorry I rambled…but if you graduated more than 15 years ago…school and the services offered or mandated has changed significantly…The requirements for “special needs” children alone amount to millions and millions of additional dollars…mandated by law…by republicans and democrats alike…but not funded at he federal level…federal funding for most districts is around 4% (federal grants for certain programs would be above that number)
LikeLike
One more thing… I think that you’ll find it’s harder to pass these levies in older, established areas where there are older families without kids in the school district any longer. I think people with kids in public schools tend to vote for these things more than people without kids in schools. I don’t think you can lay it totally at the feet of conservatives and I kind of resent you doing that. Sure, conservatives are generally resistant to tax increases in general but when it comes to school levies, I think you’ll find that conservatives with school-age kids, and especially the Moms, pretty much support these levies.
LikeLike
I think your full of shit, but not for the reason you might think.
I live in one of the whitest, most conservative school districts around (Dist. 196) which is Eagan, Rosemount, Apple Valley. The district is chock full of stupid white, affluent twits and you know what? We consistently pass levies for our school district and we have one of, if not the best, public school systems in the country (that’s why I moved here). My white stupid twit Republican ass has supported our schools since the day I moved here. Go find another scapegoat.
So, do you think that maybe it’s a bunch of lower-middle-class to poor, struggling, “I’m taxed enough,” Democratic voters that are maybe nixing your levies? Where is your exit polling data Michael? How do you know? I don’t think you do, you’re just spewing hateful bullshit.
You want to improve the schools? Abolish the teachers unions and start a school voucher program. The teachers unions and the government-run school monopoly are the root cause of the sorry state of most of our public schools, not lack of funding. I think the reason we consistently vote for levies down here in white Republican twit-ville is we actually have a quality product here and we can see the improvements that are made and we have tons of parents that are active in, and invested in the school system and related community programs such as sports. Also, because it is an affluent area, lots of kids do go to private schools or are home schooled which creates something close to free market competition, which is good for business and it’s good for schools.
LikeLike
Throughout Minnesota local property taxes are going up due to the lack of funding coming from the state and the fed.
Hopefully districts that are needing to make cuts will “hit them where it hurts the most”. Cut the most popular extra-curricular activity in that particular district.
LikeLike