vision2020
Re: school levy
Shirley, one lives in a democracy with freedom, choice and
expectations. My goals are to have the distinct stop the internal
battling by the use of long term and fair contracts, educate all equally
whether college bound or not, use this community's resources such as the
University in dual enrollment opportunities, become accountable to the
patronage, lengthen the school year that by keeping the kids in learning
environments, have the district be aware of what is happening in its
plans for the kids when they will face a world economy. If you come
by my office I will lend you economist Mark Skousen's book "The
Making of Modern Economics" if you have not read this. Also I
published the comparison in the Newspaper two weekends before, well
before the election. I presented this before the Board last
month. Plus I am on record supporting the levy and my record on the
Board was that I wanted to go to the patronage each year for a levy
increase. However, Joe Geiger and myself tied our resolution to
long term contract arrangements. The internal conflicts must stop
and could be stopped easily by this one item. Please read NEA
President's 1997 speech before the National Press Club that talks about
peer review, raising standards within the Profession, the idea of
stopping 1930's union bargaining models, the idea of becoming competitive
and innovative (changing). The district was loosing enrollment
before I came, yet this district was stuck in old patterns.
Further, there were a number of previous Board members that felt that the
internal conflicts with the Union made reform impossible. Teacher
salaries and benefits while important are just part of the
equation. I am attaching the comparison and please note the
beginning and the end. Thank you Jerry
At 05:53 PM 04/08/2002 -0400, RingoShirl@aol.com wrote:
Visionaries:
Gerry Weitz has paid $85 to have his bias about the Moscow schools
included
in the April chamber newsletter. As he is so inclined to do, he
times this
thrust so that no reply can be arranged in another chamber publication
prior
to the vote on the levy.
He compares Pullman's schools to Moscow's. In his view, as we have
seen,
Moscow comes up short. I would certainly not argue that the Moscow
schools
are perfect. On the other hand, the two communities and their
states are
different, and those differences will be reflected in the schools.
I am convinced that for the sake of this community and its children, we
need
to support this levy. It is ridiculous to argue that we must
withhold the
funds until the schools improve. Especially given what the state
legislature
has done this session, the consequences will be terrible if the levy
fails.
I hope nobody doubts that the effects of hard times in public schools and
higher education will be felt by our businesses as well.
What a shame that an individual with so much ability as Weitz has such
capacity to be destructive. Let's vote for the schools and our
kids. Then,
let's be sure we move in a direction that reflects our values.
Shirley Ringo
MSDPSDcomparison2.doc
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