A good teacher always checks to make sure students get credit for their own work.
Former Morris area school teacher Judy Bluth writes the editors of the Morris Sun Tribune in Fund education right from the start. In the epistle, she sends state representative Jeff Backer, R-Browns Valley, to the corner for taking credit for education funding he had opposed, while Governor Dayton and his DFL colleagues worked to get into the budget:
. . .It’s disingenuous and frustrating to see so many Republican legislators bragging about the investments that were made in education last session, including our own Rep. Jeff Backer.
Rep. Backer is taking responsibility for an increase in school funding for which he deserves no credit, and didn’t initially support. The Republican K-12 education bill he voted for didn’t keep up with the rate of inflation, and would have caused teacher layoffs, program cuts, and over-crowded classrooms this year.
Last spring, Superintendents from around the region gathered in Morris to tell DFL Leaders that the Republican education proposal was inadequate and harmful for our schools. It took Governor Dayton vetoing the bill and forcing legislators into a special session to get Republicans to increase funding for our students. To be clear on their priorities- Republicans found a way to work over a billion dollars in property tax cuts for skyscrapers in Minneapolis into their budget, but they could only be moved to give schools a 0.6% increase, when Superintendents said they needed 3%.
Not only that, but Rep. Backer voted against the DFL plan which would have provided needed funds for special education, continued the tuition freeze and invested in optional all day pre-school statewide.
Republicans like Jeff Backer could do a lot to help rural communities if they would just fully fund education from the start, instead of waiting until special session (paid for by taxpayers) to do the right thing. It’s not rocket science.
Should freshman state rep Backer get a social promotion from voters in 2016, despite not learning this lesson?
Photo: These cute kittens were sent to the corner for naughty behavior. We are working to establish their party affiliation.
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The kittens are outraged at having to share a corner with a lying jerk like Jeff Backer.
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Sep 06, 2015 at 09:22 PM