Disappointment

I live in the Brainerd school district 181.

The first thing my 10-year-old fifth-grade son said this morning when he woke up was, “Did they vote yes?” When I answered his question with a no, he fell silent. Pulled the covers over his head and said he had a stomach ache.
“How am I going to finish my Power Point project if they take away the computer lab? It’s due on Friday, Mom,” he said from under the comforter, clutching his tummy. “What is going to happen to my science class?”

The disappointment in my son’s voice was heart breaking. "Why, Mom?” he said. “Doesn’t anybody care what happens to us kids?”

I am very proud of my son’s ability to comprehend so much of global politics from the presidential level to his school level. I owe much of that to the Brainerd School District. When I was in the fifth grade all I cared about was riding my bike, who my best friend was each week, my Barbie dolls and boy germs. I didn’t think much beyond my world on Vincent Avenue.

Things are different today.

While my son is still concerned with how the lack of the school levy will affect him personally, he understands the bigger issue. I am greatly disappointed in the Brainerd community for letting down our kids.

If you grew up in Minnesota and attended public schools, there is an obligation to continue to support the schools long after you have graduated, or your kids graduated.

I grew up in Bloomington and attended public schools. We had teachers to help with elective classes like anthropology, foreign language and student government. We didn't go door-to-door selling candy or calenders to pay for school items like library books and field trips. Extra curricular activities didn’t cost families much extra out-of-pocket. The poor kids had the same opportunities as the middle and rich kids.

My parents struggled to raise four kids with different interests. I can guarantee you if the funding wasn’t available through public schools, I would not have had the opportunity to participate in track, student government, or theater. My brothers would not have been able to build a car in shop class or have a weight room to train for sports, or learn to play the trumpet. My sister would not have played volleyball, gone to state or learned to speek French fluently by eighth grade.

If I and my siblings would have had to ask our parents for extra money to participate, the answer would always have been no.

I have listened to most of the excuses for the no vote: It’s too much money; I don’t have kids in school; I am not from this area; My kids are home schooled; The state should give more money; Reform needs to be made; School Board needs to be more responsible, and so on.

Valid points? Maybe. Partially. But not enough to hang over the heads of the future of our community. Our kids should not have to be so disappointed in the adults in their community.

If you are happy you will not be asked to invest in the future of our kids by an additional property tax, you can be proud of thinking of yourself and not paying back for your Minnesota public education education by paying it forward for our kids today.

State tax reform does need to be made. The school board does need to be accountable. Changes do need to be made. It is not going to happen over night, or perhaps even over the next few years.

On the other hand, the no vote will change things drastically for the kids in our schools today.