Tom Hell, St. Joseph
Faye Dyson, St. Cloud
Before you let the school board and special-interest groups flood you with false information about the pending levy, investigate the real facts about the levy. All of us are bombarded with half-truths and lies by omission all propagated by highly-paid administrators and lawyers who play word games. The rhetoric about your property value is laughable. That was made up by a drunk realtor at an after-hours bar. Fact is, no one wants to buy a house with a high property-tax bill. The only one that likes that concept is the county assessor. If you listen to the propaganda, you are left with the feeling if you don’t support the levy, you hate children and teachers and may well be guilty of spitting on the sidewalk.
Before you vote, remember public schools are “fully funded” by the state of Minnesota. The state provides more than $12,000 per student. Gov. Mark Dayton spent the last two sessions adding MORE state money to the schools. By the way, that is the only money used by the highly-sought charter schools. They build, staff and operate schools strictly on that money.
The District 742 School Board years ago passed a $724 per-student levy. The district can assess up to $724 without a vote, and they did. The new levy request is “in addition to” that levy, which is already on your property tax bill (look at your statement).
Do your own math. Don’t listen to the half-truths, rhetoric and propaganda being distributed by those who personally benefit. Not one of those folks with a sign in their yard is going to write you a check for your increased taxes. Our schools need to live within a budget just as we all do. VOTE NO!