To the editor:
I was very disappointed to see the referendum for School District 88 fail. I felt that the schools have done enough "belt tightening" in recent years. As year classes of students diminish, overhead costs per pupil go up. That is just the way that economics work.
Despite how American schools rank in the world, the world still sends their best students here. Our freedoms and entrepreneurial system are the envy of the world. I am very concerned that the kids in our community are going to be at a disadvantage in the ever growing competitive world due to recent funding issues.
We all should want the next generation to do better than we did. As a manager for one of the larger local businesses, we need a different set of skills from the workforce than 20 years ago. Education is ever changing and is an investment in our community.
In my opinion there will be many more referendums to come and not just from the local school district. The Federal government is out of money. The State of Minnesota is out of money. As cuts get harder and harder to swallow, increasing taxes will seem easier and easier to do. Government is going to continue to cut the distribution of the taxes we all pay to local communities. That will mean much more direct taxation at the local level.
The good news there is that these are politicians we can get our arms around as opposed to State and Federal elected officials. The bad news is that we are all going to have to say "yes" to a lot more local taxes. In the end we are all going to have to pay more.
William Swan
New Ulm