Letter to the editor: Vote for the future

Talk about it

One of the fundamentals of a modern free society is education for all its children. Why is that?

Education provides our youth with the tools that will help them grow intellectually and socially; it’s a means by which they may become gainfully employed and contribute to their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of society at large.

Minnesota used to support good education, putting our children on the same footing as others their age throughout the country, giving them at least an equal opportunity to compete and advance, and to pursue their dreams. Education not only prepares students to be able to compete for jobs here at home but even to the far corners of the globe.

That’s how education used to work here in Minnesota. Now the state “borrows” our education funds to pay for state deficits, leaving schools districts throughout the state to find education money through referendums until the state can pay back those borrowed funds. Though this time it sounds like they may not pay all of it all back because, well, there’s other things they need to spend money on.

We, the adults of the community, have to try to come up with the money the state has “borrowed” in order to make sure students get the education they need. That might not be so hard in communities where there are good jobs and decent wages, but in the rural areas of this state, like ours, it’s not so easy...and students become the ones to bear the burden of a lesser education if we don’t find the will to make our schools work for them.

This doesn’t just jeopardize the futures of our children, it jeopardizes our futures as well.

It is today’s youngsters who will grow up to fill the jobs we once had, and, hopefully, better jobs. They will become our store owners, civic leaders, county commissioners and healthcare workers. They’ll be builders and plumbers and electricians; they’ll deliver our mail, our heating fuel, and pump our septic tanks. These young people will become our police officers and sheriffs and firemen and women. They’ll be lawyers and nurses and doctors and car repair guys.

They’ll enter service to protect our country, and they will become legislators and inventors. They will become teachers and school board members, city councilors and township officers.

What are we willing to do to guarantee a good basic education for them to start life with...and a less worrisome future for ourselves? Please vote for a full five-day school week for our most precious resource: our children.

From Louise Thureen, Silver Creek Township

Tags: two harbors, opinion, letters to the editor, levy