In response to Jewels: I have educated myself. My post in this forum “
Why I Voted No” makes it clear why I opposed the bond referendum. The website links on the school’s performance, particular in comparison with nearby school districts is not “skewed evidence,” even though it doesn’t bode well for Rockford Schools. According to my research, Delano, Wayzata, and Buffalo all outrank Rockford Schools.
http://www.schooldigger.com/go/MN/districtrank.aspx. You will have to type in Rockford and other school districts like Wayzata to view their rankings.
You’re not the only one who cares about the community or volunteers. I volunteer at several organizations including Riverworks and the Hennepin County Library among other organizations. I have worked with children and teens with disabilities in therapeutic horseback riding as well as with homeless women and their children. Just because I don’t support THIS school district, doesn’t mean I don’t support the community.
And, I, nerd that I am, would attend a “debate contest” or “math club.” While my high school poetry club didn’t elicit the big bucks from taxpayers or attract parents, I valued it. And academics are what sold my parents on the school district I did attend. Nothing like slamming the academics to win a few points.
Sports won’t draw people like me into the district. Strong academics will. While I don’t oppose sports, the main purpose of a school is to educate students in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and the like. If you don’t have that foundation, all the sports in the world won’t make up for it. Though I am not a parent, if and when I am, my kids will be going to another district like Delano.
As for your comment “Why don’t you take your beef to the legislature,” I thought that the purpose of voting whether or not to pass the bond referendum was my right as a citizen of a democratic society. I don’t need to go the legislature to “take my beef” because I get to “legislate” my viewpoint by voting. Unless of course only people who support the referendum have the right to vote. In which case, there’s a bigger problem with the democratic process in the Rockford School District than I realized.
As for calling this forum a “bully club,” I think threatening a local business owner to remove her political sign that opposes the referendum to by a form of bullying. Spray painting these “vote no” signs on two occasions is another example of bullying. Telling someone to “move to another community” because they disagree with your opinion also smacks of bullying.