Questions
from the
Duluth
News Tribune for School Board candidates
– deadline
8-13-2003
Do you support an excess
operating levy referendum to pay for educational programs? If so, for what
programs?
85% of
Minnesota
school districts have excess levies. I passed out 20,000 flyers in 2001
supporting one for
Duluth
. It failed. I don’t think
Duluth
voters will pass an excess levy until the School Board acts responsibly. I
won’t support one until the School Board closes a high school. (obviously
I've changed my mind)
The district has cut
teaching staff, administrative staff, programs and course offerings in
recent years to save money. What would you cut to plug the 5.4 million
shortfall for the 2004-05 school year?
I would sell Old Central.
This will save several hundred thousand dollars annually. I would close a
high school and turn
Woodland
into an elementary school. Because this wasn’t done two years ago we have
no choice but to offer fewer courses, increase class sizes, and lay off more
teachers.
Are you willing to close
high schools to cut spending? If so, how many elementary schools are you
willing to close?
I will vote to close a high
school. I would close as few elementary schools as possible but at the very
least I would close
Chester
Park
and Grant.
When would you like to
see the board agree on a long range plan, and how will you build a consensus
among board members to meet that goal?
The School Board, like all
elected bodies, makes decisions by majority vote not by consensus building.
It has taken us so long to make a decision because we have spent so much
time trying to find a consensus where none has existed. Voters should vote
for candidates who don’t waffle.
Give an example of how
you led an organization or group of people to a positive consensus on a
difficult issue.
Instead of insisting on
closing a high school I waited for a majority of the School Board to make a
different decision. Had they made a different decision I would have voted
against it but I would have accepted it. Consensus doesn’t turn a bad
decision into a good one.
