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| Post Number: 21
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TameThaTane 
Group: Members
Posts: 6300
Joined: May 2005
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,8:56 am |
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^ One of the all time dumbest posts ever! 
You're obviously some hack in the system dinomac. Hardly objective.
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My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I'm causing no harm, it shouldn't bother you.
Your choice is who you choose to be,
And if you're causin' no harm, then you're alright with me.
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| Post Number: 22
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dinomac
Group: Members
Posts: 51
Joined: Sep. 2006
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,9:16 am |
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Obviously you are one of the idiots that I was referring to!!!!!! I have nothing to do with the school system. My kids have graduated from Albert Lea. I graduated from Albert Lea. I run a successful business in town. And yes, my taxes will go up - both home and business... but so what? I want Albert Lea to succeed, not fail like you want it to! You are so negative - as is this forum as a whole. I don't know why I even posted... thought I could enlighten some people. But no... they have negative moderators running this stinkin forum. Everyone should have a right to give their opinion - just like you... but you need to use your brain.... do you have one? ??
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| Post Number: 23
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Spidey
Group: Members
Posts: 1775
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,9:37 am |
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dinomac - I for one appreciate your post and your thoughts on the subject. That doesn't mean I agree with them, but it's nice to see other members of the community joining in on the conversations on this forum. We need different view points and good debates.
With that said ... calling people "idiots" isn't going to help anything. Neither will calling everyone on here "negative Nellies". You need to be open to debate if you want anyone to hear your side. It can't be your way or the highway, we all know that never works.
I'm curiouse why you think everyone should always vote "yes" in order to be concidered a supporter of Albert Lea?
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| Post Number: 24
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JeffJimenez
Group: Members
Posts: 489
Joined: May 2006
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,9:37 am |
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Thanks for the post Scorenix. My point as well. You will never get an argument from me when it comes to funding education. We need to get a slice of the pie just like the schools in the Metro area get.
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"We don't sell albums, we sell CD's".
Kevin Freeland, former President Musicland Group Inc.
(after Best Buy acquisition of Musicland Group)
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| Post Number: 25
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dinomac
Group: Members
Posts: 51
Joined: Sep. 2006
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,9:54 am |
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Spidey, I was heated and shouldn't have called people idiots... I apologize. And I don't believe we should vote YES everytime. But to vote NO to a referendum that just needs to be renewed is just not in anybody's interest. This isn't a new referendum to pile on top of all the taxes we have... it just replaces what we have in place to keep the schools going forward. We can't afford to go backwards!
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| Post Number: 26
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TameThaTane
Group: Members
Posts: 6300
Joined: May 2005
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,9:54 am |
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| Quote | | And yes, my taxes will go up - both home and business... but so what? I want Albert Lea to succeed, |
Well if more taxes are good why isn't even more taxes better?
I wish I knew what business you had so I could make certain to not support you in any way, shape or form. You and Jim Jones need to move to Guyana and form your own cult.
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My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I'm causing no harm, it shouldn't bother you.
Your choice is who you choose to be,
And if you're causin' no harm, then you're alright with me.
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| Post Number: 27
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scorenix
Group: Members
Posts: 1147
Joined: Dec. 2004
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,10:07 am |
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| Quote (Whiskero @ Aug. 22 2007,8:29am) | I will repeat--We had to have a new high school and a new government center--the two essential things to bring in all these new businesses and people to help make A. Lea grow and help on taxes, etc. IT HAS NOT HAPPENED!! Now, we needed to put up lights to bring people in--IT HAS NOT HAPPENED!!
When will this town come up with ideas to bring people in that doesn't cost us an arm and a leg?? |
You won't get an argument from me on the failed initiatives to drive Albert Lea's growth. But look at how they decide to proceed: they hire a political hack with no work experience, no education, to head economic development. Sorry, if I harp on an old theme, but I cannot rationalize, at all, what the ALEDA was thinking.
When county and city government say their expenses are growing, they jump right in and raise the levy. Up goes taxes. Wait until you see what happens this year. If the school district increase bothers you, how do you feel about another $1.2 million for Freeborn County, who cannot get their act together and balance a budget with spending cuts? Or the city that increases taxes 26%, only to later say, "gee, we found another, extra $1 million, how about we spend that on a former bank building, or street lights, or, you get the picture. What will it be next year, because the increased levy to fund that extra $1 million will be kept intact?
The school district educates. You say lower schools advocates your position to cut spending. Could the result of lower scores be a district unable to adequately fund a higher level of education, or could it also be demographics. What parent who wanted their kid to go to college would condone a school district that appeals to the lowest common denominator of an adequate public education.
Your tax wrath should be targeted toward city and county, not the school district. The city and county tax escalations are the cause of voter backlash. Yet next year, candidates will run for office, and they will promise three things: (i) lower taxes, (ii) economic growth, and, (iii) greater cooperation between governmental entities. And you already know the result.
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"Here is something for those who think I have not done much on my own to think about. I must then be one of the luckiest people around, and I think I am, I should then be able to keep that same luck going for the benefit of our area." - New ALEDA Executive Director Dan Dorman.
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| Post Number: 28
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,12:14 pm |
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Two points. The old high school is not 100 years old--that portion was torn down in the late 60s or early 70s when the new administrative offices and swimming pool were built. The oldest portion of the school was 1940.
Second | Quote | | We need to get a slice of the pie just like the schools in the Metro area get. |
Who do you suppose is PAYING for the metro area pie?
There IS NOT TAX FAIRY--where tax money comes from "somebody else." It makes NO SENSE to send money to St. Paul, and beg to get even a portion of it back.
Full disclosure--my wife is an elementary teacher, and loves to teach. She's good at it. My views may or may not reflect her views.
Public schools in the U.S. are doing a HORRIBLE job educating kids. When nearly half the kids entering college have to take some sort of remedial training, it is a horrible indictment of our public school system. We have a large percentage of kids today that are functionally illiterate, can't make change without a cash register, and have no sense of history. The U.S. is far behind many other countries when it comes to education.
Don't tell me that things will get better by throwing more money at it--if that were true, then New York City and Washington D.C. would have the BEST schools, not the worst. In fact, the reverse is true--schools in the Northern tier of states spend the least per capita (so much for "economy of scale") yet have some of the best scholastic ratings in the country. As one wag put it--"School academic achievement has less to do with school spending than with proximity to the Canadian border!)
What needs to be done? A complete overhaul of the U.S. public school system.
A. Eliminate state funding, let local districts fund their schools so they can concentrate on what is important to THEM.
B. That being said, there should be some provision for national funding. Unlike previous generations, today's populace is more mobile. It makes no sense for Minnesota to educate people that will be spending the rest of their lives elsewhere.
C. Tie the national funding to scholastic achievement. This provides the incentive for local schools to set standards. NCLB was a good first effort.
D. Tie a second level of national funding to high achievement. There is nothing like the prospect of a reward for good grades. These are the kids that will make a difference--unlike other countries, who reward their best students, we spend billions on the lowest achievers. You can't average DOWN.
E. Allow local school districts to set their own funding levels--consistent with national standards.
F. Allow nationwide open-enrollment.
G. Allow private schools--with the national funding vouchers. If parents are willing to pay for extras--whether it is extra help, extra classes, extra tutoring, or extracurricular activities, they should have the chance to do so.
Now, all we have to do is to build a desire for change by the general populace, bypassing what has been described as the most powerful lobby in the country--the National Education Assn.
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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| Post Number: 29
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JeffJimenez
Group: Members
Posts: 489
Joined: May 2006
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,1:44 pm |
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Nice post Jim!! Great ideas/proposals.
Ps, I know who is paying for the Metro schools!!
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"We don't sell albums, we sell CD's".
Kevin Freeland, former President Musicland Group Inc.
(after Best Buy acquisition of Musicland Group)
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| Post Number: 30
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Frozen in MN
Group: Members
Posts: 7
Joined: Feb. 2007
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Posted on: Aug. 22 2007,1:47 pm |
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The community needs to pull together and vote yes. Education is important and our children are our future. Educational cuts are not a sign of a growing community, it is a sign that it is dieing. In the last round of cuts, many of the teachers that were cut have now left the district - these are the type of people that AL should want to keep in the community.
VOTE YES.
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