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State Representative Jeanne Poppe
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4193
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
NEWS COLUMN
A TIME TO CELEBRATE EDUCATION
This is the time of year when we celebrate the end of another school year and, especially for graduates, a new beginning. There are big changes ahead, for both students and their families. While our children anxiously look ahead, we let go, hoping that everything they have learned along the way will go with them and keep them safe and help them be responsible adults.
As we attend commencements and graduation parties, students and parents alike can't help but reflect on the few short years that have passed since the beginning. We all reminisce as we attend celebrations filled with memorabilia of school years, with pictures of classmates and teachers, reminders of school trips and trophies. Pictures are taken of the friends who are going different ways, wondering if they will ever "hang out" in quite the same way again.
As parents, we can remember when our child was first able to read to us, or show us how to do the "new math." We smile as we think of the first band concert we had to sit through, or the first basketball game when they didn't even know for which basket to aim. As they got older, we were impressed with their developing curiosity, the depth of their knowledge and amazed at how much they were learning.
Some parents have tearful memories of dropping their "baby" off the first day of kindergarten, wondering how they will make it, but trusting their teacher to comfort them when they are sad, laugh with them when they are happy, and encourage them when they struggle. Throughout those formative school years, teachers, aides, coaches and school staff see our children more than we do. We depended on them, and they came through for us. We helped by chaperoning school trips, assisting in the classroom and participating in fund-raisers, anything to make our child's school experience more positive.
Imagine instead classrooms with too many children, too few textbooks and too little attention given to each child. What happens to the students with special needs or the gifted students who seek additional opportunities for growth? What happens when schools struggle to keep creative expression through art, music and theater as part of their curriculum? How can we help students be successful when families have less access to early childhood programs and children coming to school for the first time have varying degrees of readiness? We expect our teachers to get them all to the same level of ability and we expect them to tune into the problems each child may be experiencing outside of the school setting. And what happens to our troubled kids when there are fewer counselors to serve students? Schools have to meet the needs of our children and unfortunately, have to do it with less money and fewer resources.
Is this the Minnesota in which we want our children and grandchildren to live? A place where adequate funding and strong support for our schools is considered an expenditure rather than an investment in human potential? We have got to do a better job of funding education in the short and long term.
Many of these cuts and changes are already happening, with many more to come if our schools aren't adequately funded. The simple truth is that school funding is not keeping pace with inflation. Communities are forced to consider referendums and levies, which increase local property taxes. Property rich communities are able to sustain their school funding, while in property poor districts, the schools, and the children, suffer. Another two years of inadequate funding will be even more damaging, and many of the treasured memories we celebrate now will become a thing of the past.
In recent weeks I have enjoyed seeing the eager and energetic 6th graders from Kingsland, Grand Meadow, LeRoy-Ostrander, and Austin schools. These faces were vivid reminders to me of my belief that people have got to be our first priority. As a state legislator, I take my responsibility to all of our students very seriously. There is pressure to end the special session quickly. But at what cost? Stabilizing funding for education, supporting affordable health care opportunities for all, reforming our tax system to make it fair, building and maintaining our roads and bridges are all reasons to stay in the fight. I firmly believe in the value of compromise but I equally believe we cannot afford to give in when so much is at stake.
Please continue to call or write if you have ideas or concerns you want to share about state or local issues. I can be reached by phone at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193, by mail at 231 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at the above address. If you are interested in receiving my e-newsletter, please email me at rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn and your name will be added to our list.
News Items
- POPPE SELECTED AS AGRICULTURE POLICY COMMITTEE CHAIR - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Rep. Jeanne Poppe Encourages High School Juniors to Apply for Minnesota House of Representatives Page Program - Application Deadline is November 19th - (Posted: 2012-11-12 00:00:00)
- HORMEL INSTITUTE EXPANSION SIGNED INTO LAW - 2012 legislative session adjourns sine die - (Posted: 2012-05-11 00:00:00)
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