I visited with other members of Just Food Co-op, who were invited to the Public Library to hear an update on progress and planning for the new co-op. We also met the new manager, Stuart Reid, and other Co-op staff. After a brief discussion visitors were shown the dvd, "Sweet Soil: Local
Farmers & the Berkshire Co-op Market" about the cooperation of the Berkshire food co-op and local New England family farmers to bring fresh organic produce and other food products to local consumers. It showed the important community building connection between local producers and consumers.


Here I am studying the latest floor plan.


This is a photo from a previous blog of the new space, ready for construction. You might recognize it, as the Dollar store, or those of you with a longer Northfield memory may remember it, as the Red Owl Store.

As of July 16th Just Food has signed on 564 of their 750 member goal.

(growth thermometer)

Posted by David at 7/31/2004 10:29:37 PM | Link   

 
Belle Plaine's Barbecue Days is a once a year celebration of small town life. I have been attending for the past few years because as a candidate for Minnesota House Seat 25B, it's a great way to meet people in the district. Belle Plaine celebration planners put out a new rule this year: "No politicians in the parade." They claimed our glad-handing was delaying the parade. So 2nd Congressional District Candidate Teresa Daly and I complied with their wishes by walking the route and introducing ourselves to folks on the street before the parade started. But one politician in red did march in the parade, "stretching the envelope" using a corporation for political purposes, or was it using political office to enhance the corporation? Either way...

After greeting people, I volunteered to help in the Belle Plaine BBQ sandwich booth and spent a steamy two hours over cookers of meat rubbing elbows and visiting with folks while we assembled sandwiches for the crowds that rushed to the booth after the parade. Here I am with a Belle Plaine resident making the sandwiches. Behind me you can see a couple of "celebrities" handing out the sandwiches away from the assembly lines. The booth is very clean and well organized by volunteer workers who have been doing this for years and have the system down to a fine art... Tom Neuville displayed his fine sense of humor when he asked whether it was my campaign manager who had arranged for the Northfield Rotary Club to be served pie when he and Ray spoke there recently - my campaign had nothing to do with it but that anonymous donor gave me a great laugh, and I was sorry to disappoint Tom.

Last month, I participated in the Belle Plaine Downtown Cookout, which is the evening that the downtown is blocked off for groups and merchants to offer visitors free food. I had a booth and Corazon Noyes and her son helped out -- it was great to work with them and have them introduce me to new friends.

I also had a pie in the park event after door knocking in Belle Plaine last weekend. Members of my Belle Plaine campaign committee joined other residents at Heritage Square Park to enjoy the warm summer breeze, good political conversation and a slice of Minnesota Pie.

We talked about the urgent need for healthcare reform and a jobs program that will guarantee folks a living wage. One citizen was very concerned about the trend of outsourcing good jobs to China and India. He said that the promises of a strong economy 20 years from now would do nothing to bring back his lost benefits and the wages he would have been earning if his job had not been downsized out of existence when the work went overseas.
We also talked about education and the need to invest in schools, not only in k-12 programs, but early childhood programs and post-secondary education. One resident with her young son in tow said she needed all-day kindergarten, and she wondered why it was so hard to get funding for it. Another noted that more and more parents were frustrated with the lack of support for schools and unhappy with options provided, and they were choosing home schooling as a way to educate their children.
Incidentally, I am pleased with Governor Pawlenty's choice for the new education commissioner. I worked on legislation with Alice Seagren when I was President of the Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs and found her to be a very reasonable person. With education experience and a good understanding and respect for Minnesota schools, something her predecessor, Yecke lacked, she should do very well.
There was consensus at "Bly and Pie" in Belle Plaine that we need a legislature that will get things done for people and not fall into endless bickering over issues that don't effect the day-to-day issues people face. These monthly gatherings in Wards across the district give us a good chance to get together and talk about issues - it's as American as apple pie!

Join us Wednesday, July 21 @ 7 pm. at Emmaus Church for the Ward 3 Bly and Pie gathering.
Saturday, July 24, Bly and Pie will be in Lonsdale at the JC Park at 1:00 p.m.

Posted by David at 7/20/2004 11:16:32 PM | Link   

 

This update from the Wilderness Society caught my attention. It shows that concerned citizens and active governments can still make a difference in their communities and for the environment:

Comments from WildAlert Subscribers Made the Difference!
On Tuesday, June 29, 2004, Scott County, Minnesota, Commissioners unanimously rejected a permit for an amphitheater that would have been aimed directly at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge south of the Twin Cities.
"We're really appreciative that the county commissioners considered the interests of the citizens, citizens who value the National Wildlife Refuge in their community," said Richard Schultz, Refuge Manager. "As a manager, it's gratifying to know that folks, both regionally and nationally, care about this refuge."
The planned amphitheater would have included outdoor seating for over 19,000 people, parking for 5200 cars and a 72-foot-high stage. In addition to noise and traffic problems for nearby residential areas, the commission chairperson cited "interference with the refuge" as a factor in the decision.

This is a case that points out the importance of local control, that local governments should and will, with citizen support, stand up for their communities. A staunch DFLer from Louisville Twp. said her township had been working hard to stop this facility. They are blessed with a savvy Board that understands its rights, and thankfully they have enough of a budget to do the job. According to the STrib article (below), the developer "had not approached" two of the affected townships, perhaps because they're not used to dealing with a zoning scheme where local governments can develop more restrictive land uses - where locals rule.

As your Representative, I plan to author legislation that would provide funding and technical assistance to townships for use on zoning and land-use issues, whether for planning or emergency help. A township often needs someone who knows zoning law or planning methods to frame their first Comprehensive Plan, or to narrow down options if they are looking for a particular change. In this case, the township could have used a sound expert to model the impact of the amphitheater, or conducted a traffic count, both of which could be presented to support its case for denial of the developer's permit. A township could also use help to determine appropriate density or septic capacity in a growing area, how much development can come in safely without overtaxing shoreland, or to prepare the initial written survey for planning or hire a facilitator to help township citizens talk about their community priorities. Without this help, because land-use decisions are pretty much irreversible, townships may be hesitant to make decisions, or make ones that have no basis and are a "best guess" and which then could be subject to suit. The purpose of this kind of help is empowerment - to provide townships the expertise they need, be it facilitating, legal, engineering, whatever, to help make it a community with the standards of those living there, to give them the tools and confidence to make that happen.

Scott County is described by many as one of the fastest growing counties in the country. Towns and townships there are feeling the struggles and conflict that come with a rapid influx of people and development. Yesterday, I talked with a resident of Cedar Lake Township, and when I asked him what issues he was concerned about, waved his hand across the panoramic view and said, "It's a zoo! All this development is crazy. We're going to reseed our back lawn here and put it up for sale." All across the county, it seems the development exceeds the ability of most to keep planning ahead of it. How can you make good decisions in that environment? And how can anyone make good decisions and plan without expertise and training? We need to invest in our local governments.

Thankfully, in the case of Louisville Township, they had a core of citizens ready to speak out and a Board willing to stand up for its citizens. One big concern they had about the project was traffic, commonly heard as a concern regarding development proposed in Northfield. The report says that they planned for 5,200 parking spaces for a 19,000 seat amphitheater, which assumes 3-4 people per car. Imagine the entire population of Northfield, plus another 15%, arriving and leaving all at once over the course of a day, with 5,200 cars!

Or imagine having your neighbor's musical tastes inflicted on you at 110 dB(A)!

Citizens with the imagination to understand what was at stake and who took the time to register their heartfelt thoughts made the difference. This is how change is made and how people can have influence over policy. It's called democracy.
Here's how the story appeared in the StarTribune:
Scott County turns down amphitheater

Posted by David at 7/15/2004 02:40:51 PM | Link   

 
Since the departure of former Commissioner Yecke, we have not heard much about NCLB, the President's education act. Although across the country there is a lot of dislike of this unfunded mandate, it is difficult to encourage state legislatures to act against it, most likely because to reject it means loss of federal funds. Outgoing Minneapolis Superintendent, David Jennings, said in an interview on Public Radio that he would vote to reject the constraints of NCLB because it just costs too much to administer the plan and takes money way from the important work of the schools.

TEACHER UNION LEFT BEHIND ON NCLB LAWSUIT

The nation's largest union boldly pledged a year ago to rally states to sue the Bush administration over education spending under the No Child Left Behind law. At least 30 state legislatures, including some led by Republicans, have expressed their displeasure over the law. Not one state, however, has agreed to join a lawsuit the teachers' union announced one year ago and planned to file by last summer. "Maintaining a good relationship with the federal government that oversees your programs and suing them at the same time makes it a very difficult proposition," said Patty Sullivan, deputy executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. "You have to be pretty certain that you're going to win, because you really will jeopardize your ability to get other things. You have to think through the politics of that," she said. The threatened challenge, which would have been the most direct shot at the heart of Bush's domestic agenda, is not dead, the union says. A few school districts have agreed to participate and the union is weighing when to go on if no state joins the fight. Union leaders claim the primary reason the suit has stalled is that states fear retaliation by the Education Department. Yet participation by states is critical because they would have the strongest standing to sue, the union says.

I've quoted Deborah Meier before and find her commentary on President's No Child Left Behind legislation enlightening, here she is in a recent article in The Nation:

No Politician Left Behind
by DEBORAH MEIER
[from the June 14, 2004 issue]

Education is always about politics--in the best and worst senses. In the best sense what happens in our schools is an expression of our beliefs and values, what we want the next generation to be like. But education is also political in the partisan sense--as politicians of all stripes seek to rally their troops around schooling practices, to tie other political agendas into our agendas for schools. Social promotion, bilingual education, phonics, "new math"--all are issues that resonate with different audiences for reasons other than those that directly concern teachers, parents and kids. Phonics is seen as "right-wing authoritarianism," social promotion as "permissive liberalism" (and depicted as the scourge of New York City schools, despite the fact that almost half the city's children have been entering high school at least a year over-age for decades) and so forth. Reality often gets lost, and kids suffer in ways neither opponents nor proponents had in mind.

So along comes No Child Left Behind, and from right to left, everyone climbs aboard. It was, after all, an extension of a policy idea hatched under Bush Senior, pursued under Clinton and replicated in many states--the premise of which is that frequent testing will solve educational problems. And in fact the focus on "results," not "opportunities," echoes older liberal, not conservative, themes. Yet had anyone read the bill with care, it would have been hard not to fault it on almost every ground, except perhaps the high aspirations embedded in the title.

NCLB proposes to accomplish a statistical impossibilitythat all children score in the top twenty-fifth percentile; it raises false expectations; it's built on an illusion that tests alone can--and should--measure worthwhile standards; that schools can do it all; that progress comes in steady increments; that penalties will motivate children and teachers; that lack of money is a mere excuse; that a single nationwide system is part of the American dream; and, finally, that schools can do it all. The law literally dictates the books we are allowed to use on a national basis, not to mention the pedagogy for teaching literacy and, coming soon, math. Before long, until eighth grade, little else will get taught at all.

Testing will continue until the education establishment adopts a curriculum, which makes it obvious to legislators that standardized tests can't evaluate student performance. Marion Brady says, "For more than 30 years, I've been trying to convince my fellow educators of this in books, journal articles, and newspaper column. Apparently, it's a waste of time, for thus far they've taken neither issue nor action.
I did it again in my Orlando Sentinel/KRTcolumn for 6/10/04. (See below.)"

How to raise test scores

When Robert Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was published in 1974, over a period of several years I read it four or five times. I did the same with his 1991 Lila. Both touch on many matters, but what interests me most are his thoughts on human values in general and on "quality" in particular.

I dog-ear my books. Turning down the corners of pages makes it easy to go back and re-read, which is what led me yesterday to Pirsig's contention in Lila that societies build their beliefs on what they think are facts, but once those beliefs are in place, there's little interest in new facts unless they reinforce old ones.

"A contradictory fact," he says, "has to keep hammering and hammering and hammering, sometimes for centuries, before maybe one or two people will see it. And then these one or two have to start hammering on others for a long time before they see it too."

I'm a hammerer (and not-very-patient one) so being reminded that a fact I'm trying to get people to accept may be rejected for centuries is pretty discouraging. It's even more discouraging if you believe, as I do, that continuing to reject the fact will contribute to the decline and eventual demise of America.

No, that's not an exaggeration. Those in today's classrooms will soon be running things, and the quality of their education will have far-reaching consequences. What they don't know, and what they don't do because of what they don't know, will determine the future of the nation. More than likely, given America's power, it will determine the future of humankind.

What's the idea I'm hammering? The same idea Alfred North Whitehead was hammering in 1916 when he told the Mathematical Association of England that school subjects disconnected from each other would be "fatal" to education.

It's the same idea Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter was hammering in 1948 when he wrote that the main thing wrong with American universities was "the curse of departmentalization."

It's the same idea John Goodlad was hammering in 1984 when, following a massive study of America's schools, he said, "The division into subjects and periods (makes schooling) increasingly artificial, cut off from the human experiences subject matter is supposed to reflect."

It's the same idea, which dozens of well-known, respected educators were hammering when, a few years ago, Congress shoved them aside, took over the nation's schools, and legislated the conventional wisdom. The conventional wisdom of the 1930s.

The idea? The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Throwing disconnected, unrelated school subjects at kids may keep them off the streets, may give them some minimal skills, may produce good standardized test scores, but it doesn't teach them how the world works.

That idea is a really tough sell. It's unfamiliar. It isn't logical.. To most people, it doesn't seem important. And, if it is important, doing something about it is surely someone else's responsibility. Given all those obstacles, if an integrated curriculum has any chance of making it into classrooms, it probably has to piggy-back on something else-something everyone cares about.

Right now, that "something" that everyone cares about is standardized test scores. If integrating the curriculum promised to raise the scores, it might have a chance.

Raise scores it would. The more kids can remember, the better their scores. Remembering requires a system of mental organization. To be integrated, knowledge has to be organized. Integrating knowledge, then, will improve test scores.

If I'm right, Washington's pressure on the states to write separate standards for each school subject stands in the way of better test performance.

Merely raising standardized test scores is a poor reason for integrating the curriculum, but if that's a winning argument, your elected representatives need to hear it.

The late Trappist monk Thomas Merton gave us a far more legitimate motive for acting when he wrote, ". . . we break reality into pieces and then wonder why, after we have manipulated the pieces until they fall apart, we find ourselves out of touch with life, with reality, with the world, and most of all with ourselves."

What discourages experienced teachers is the fact that words of wisdom like those carry less weight with most of the public and the media than a mysterious number created by a secret test.

Across the state schools and teachers will be busy preparing to meet the newly enacted standards passed by the legislature. It is unfortunate they did not include funding to help with the cost of implementing the new standards, which will require districts to purchase new materials and invest in planning time.

Posted by David at 7/15/2004 11:55:33 AM | Link   

 

Early Tuesday morning, I attended a Northfield Downtown Development Corporation meeting on taxes in downtown Northfield. Here I am visiting with At-Large Councilmember, Kris Vohs, after the meeting.

Wednesday, I attended the annual Hemenway Luncheon that featured Al Franken as the main speaker. I took a few minutes with Al before he spoke to ask him for some legal advice.

Some of you may know the feud Al has had with Fox News celebrity Bill O'Reilly. I shared my story with Al and asked him, "What I should do when someone threatens me with a baseless law suit?" He looked at me and said, "Oh you're the pie guy, I've heard about this." He chuckled and said, "Well, what you have to do is thank them profusely, and encourage them if you can."

After the luncheon, I drove over to St. Paul to file at the Secretary of State's office for the House 25B seat.


Later, that evening, I met with a group of former Howard Dean supporters at the Ruminator Bookstore in St. Paul. While I talked about my campaign and Thorstein Veblen's theory about Predatory Capitalism, some of the attendees helped themselves to their share of the pie.


On the way home, I reflected on the great 4th of July weekend we'd had. It was such a beautiful day.

Here I am with two friends, David Sudermann and Jim Christensen, practicing Howard Mohr's Minnesota men's talk etiquette. A good part of the afternoon, we were entertained by bike races and music.



The bands played late into the evening and Griff Wiggley did a great job of capturing the events and displaying them on his Northfield website.

Earlier that day, I marched in the Veseli Parade and had a lot of fun introducing myself to voters.

These two wanted their picture taken with the 'pie guy':





We had about 20 marchers in the parade including my daughter, Julia, and Terry Rogers helped out by snapping these photos.


On Thursday, I got a call from Tom Hauser of KSTP, who said he wanted to come down to Northfield and ask me a few questions about our 'Bly and Pie in the park' events he'd read about in the St. Paul paper. He'd also read the blog and was interested in Jeane Poppe's 'Popscicles in the Park' events I'd mentioned. Here's the result:


call it dessert-gate.

State Republicans and DFLers are now butting heads over pie and popsicles.

David Bly, a DFL candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives, decided to take advantage of a rhyme and incorporate pie into his campaign. He hoped it would help him win a race lost by less than 50 votes in 2002.

However, the GOP House Speaker Steve Sviggum questions whether Bly can do that. He claims one of Bly's campaign practices is a felony.

"It's illegal. Just don't do it," he says.

So what potentially felonious pursuit is this DFL candidate engaged in? He's serving free pie to potential voters.

"I'm a Norwegian," Bly explains. "And when you invite people over you have to serve food or it's considered rude."

Not so fast, says Sviggum, who is also a fellow Norwegian. He sent a letter to Bly informing him state law says that any person who gives money or food to induce a voter to vote a certain way is guilty of a felony.

However, Bly says the law goes on to say that food of nominal value is not prohibited.

"Politics is so mean-spirited these days we thought this would be a way to reach out to people in a positive way," Bly explains.

Still, Sviggum says letting Bly serve pie sets a slippery precedent.

"What if a Mr. Angus wants to give away free steaks," he wonders. "Or what about a Mr. Ford? You know ,what happens then?"

Sviggum has also sent a letter to a DFL candidate named Poppee who is giving away free popsicles.

The whole dispute boils down to what is considered "nominal."

Our next park event will be in Belle Plaine, July 10th, 2pm. and in Northfield on July 14th at 7pm by the Soccer Fields South of Jefferson Parkway. Here's a photo from our event in Central Park.

Posted by David at 7/09/2004 06:18:21 PM | Link   

 
Speaker Sviggum threatens another DFL candidate

Well, I'm not the only one threatened by Speaker Steve Sviggum. Another letter, dated three days after the one I received, was sent by the Speaker to Jeanne Poppe, DFL candidate for House District 27B. Like my own race, this is a hot contest, where she lost by only 378 votes.

Jeanne Poppe has been holding events called "Poppe Popsicles in the Park," and was also told by Sviggum to "immediately cease this criminal activity. Failure to do so will result in a complaint to be filed followed by an investigation of your campaign."

These perfectly lawful events will continue. Jeanne says, "Our next Poppe in the Park event is Thursday, July 8 from 7 - 8 pm at Shirley Theel Park in Southwest Austin (near Fordtown). I welcome you all to come and see me this Thursday. I will bring the letter from Mr Sviggum so you can all see it firsthand! Thanks for your support!"

I am asked, why the Speaker would make these threats? To be honest I do not know, but I understand that he is facing the prospect of losing the House this year and losing his position as Speaker, and that a lot is riding on this election. Republicans have made a lot of headway in transforming Minnesota to their liking, in changing our social and fiscal priorities, and shortchanging citizens and taxpayers in the process. They have shifted the tax burdens and funding sources in ways that will become apparent over time. The foundation of public education has been altered, a few bricks at a time, a few teacher layoffs at a time, and referendum by referendum across the state. We understand that health care, day care, nursing home care has been cut, leaving many types of care unfunded or coming up short. Debts are coming due. That's why we're running - we want to turn around this Republican trend that is gutting Minnesota. We plan to take back the House.



The Politics of Pie

Why pie? Pie in the shape of a circle implies at once that we are all one and that this limited resource must be shared for the common good, it must be carefully dished out if we are to each receive a piece. As countless pie charts show, the pie can be divided in many ways.

What makes for a good pie? What makes for a good society? How do we divide the pie so that we can all benefit? Why does it matter that we think about being in this together? Do we have to share? These are important questions which we must consider as we look to the future. As former Gov. Arne Carlson said, "Minnesota's response used to be to work together for our common good, to be proud that we were a state with no prejudice, and to always think about the future." Sadly, this is no longer Minnesota's response.

Things have changed now that the extreme and radical conservatives are in charge of two thirds of our state government. They promote a strategy that feeds on division and prejudice, and challenges Minnesota to be mediocre. They want us to aspire to be more like Iowa or Wisconsin or even South Dakota. We should give up our high regional position to be a state in the middle thirties, supposedly for prosperity and livability. Why? How can this be? It has to do with how they want to divide the pie. They want the pie to be divided so that a few, themselves included, get a pretty hefty slice while the rest of us get to fight over the spoils or the crumbs that fall from their plate.

I believe that by having a state strategy like the one we had followed for most of the last fifty years, we can assure that the common good is served. We can assure that young people have good schools to go to, regardless of what kind of family they come from, where they live, or how much money they have. We can assure access to health care. We can assure that senior citizens will be provided for and not be forced to make hard choices about whether or not to buy food or cut their prescriptions in half.

I want to get things done. I believe we can rebuild our infrastructure and continue to create communities where businesses prosper, where jobs are created by a partnership of government and enterprise, and that economic development isn't something that communities pay for through subsidies like JOBZ - instead it provides local economic benefits with a net gain. I believe we can give hope to those who struggle by helping them see that increased opportunity is available through education. I believe we have an obligation to contribute, to share, to be reasonable and fair in an effort to make Minnesota better. We share the pie.

We face some difficult issues in the coming years, and I am very worried about the direction our state and federal governments are taking us. They are using the power of the state, as Bill Moyers says, "to transfer wealth to the rich, and to use the authority of law to give corporations a free hand to eviscerate the environment, as well as to control the regulatory agencies meant to hold them accountable." These transfers are at the expense of working people and the environment, and the practices of some corporations are destroying the air we breathe and the water we drink while they are asking the government for further handouts and protections. This is not my vision of the role of government or the future of Minnesota.

I want to "share the pie," and I want this message to resound through the district. This is why we say 'Bly and Pie in the Park'. We do offer as refreshment a slice of Minnesota pie, of nominal value, for any who would like a piece. There is no expectation that those who come to talk with us and share their ideas are obligated in any way to vote for me or to need to feel compelled to share in a slice of pie - they can freely decline to partake in the pie and/or conversation as they wish - as the Republican House staffer who attended last week's Bly & Pie can attest. But this chance to speak with constituents about common concerns is important, a slice of democracy in action. I want to learn from my neighbors about their thoughts and their beliefs and I hope to share mine.

I intend to talk about the common good and dividing the pie fairly, and yes, I intend to continue to enjoy sharing a slice of pie with my neighbors when we meet to talk about these issues and their concerns about the future of our great state. Neighbors, conversation, and apple pie - it's what democracy is all about.

Here's an article that appeared in the St. Paul paper related to this issue. The reporter came to our last pie event in Central Park. It made the front page of Sunday's (July 4th) St. Paul Pioneer Press!

New law may cut election gripes Establishes penalty for trivial complaints
BY BILL SALISBURY
Pioneer Press
Wed, Jun. 30, 2004
One of the oldest dirty tricks in Minnesota politics may soon bite the dust.

A favorite tactic of unscrupulous candidates has been to file complaints with county attorneys falsely accusing their opponents of lying in their campaign literature. The county attorneys are required by current law to investigate, whether the charges have any merit or not. Then the complaining candidate runs around telling voters that his opponent is under criminal investigation for breaking campaign laws.

But a new law that takes effect Thursday may put a stop to that tactic.

The law will speed up investigations of complaints and make people who file frivolous or malicious grievances foot the bill.

It also will relieve county attorneys of the burden of investigating every campaign complaint, freeing them to focus on prosecuting more serious crimes. Metro area county attorneys say they handle dozens of such complaints each year.

"We have a lot of rapists, murderers, robbers and white-collar criminals that we need to focus on. To use our very precious criminal justice resources - resources that are dwindling all the time - on election law complaints didn't seem like a good use of public safety resources," said Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, who led the charge in the Legislature to change the law.

More important, Gaertner and other county attorneys agree, the new law will ensure that voters know before they cast their ballots whether an accusation that a candidate broke the law is true or false.

"The main consequence that someone should suffer for running a dirty campaign or making a false accusation against an opponent would be to lose," Gaertner said. The new law will make that more likely.

To read the entire article click here.

One of my supporters was inspired to compose the following limerick (humorous verse has been spontaneously appearing, this has struck a chord with funny bones across the district!):

Pie in the Sky (or in your face) Limerick

There once lived a fellow name Bly,
Who treated his people to pie.
Along came Steve Sviggum
to do some deep diggin'
and bring this to light on the sly.

"How many of these did you give?"
"We're watching and know where you live."
"Your campaign, we'll keep track of,"
"You'd best think to back off"
"or money will flow in through a sieve!"

"Maybe you think your campaign is above it"
"and your people keep saying they love it."
"We'll get you," they say.
But Bly replies, "Nay!"
"You can take a Dutch Apple and shove it!"

- Dave Mindeman, MNPA

Here's what's appeared in the Northfield News:

Bly's pie called into question

Pie debate a waste of energy

Keep up the good work

Saturday, July 03, 2004
What else does one do?

To the editor:
I'm not sure I understand the point of your recent editorial regarding the
pie episode. A high public official bullies a local candidate through the
threat of legal action, based on a selective quotation of the law. In
response, you take David Bly to task for making House majority leader Steve
Sviggum's threat public. But what else does one do when confronted with such
an outlandish abuse of power? Publicity is the obvious remedy. Why didn't
the Northfield News ask the incumbent about the Republican leadership's
intervention in his behalf? That would seem the more relevant point.
Michael Fitzgerald Northfield


Saturday, July 03, 2004
Suess used loosely
No pie from Bly. Says I. Says I. For I am the Speaker. Not someone meeker.
Did Cox serve lox? Or candy from a box? Did Tuma serve tuna? Or a sandwich
of baloogna? Neuville would neuver give food for a vote. It just isn't done.
DFLers must note. But what of coffee? Dear Speaker? Dear Speaker? May we
serve a cup? Or even a beaker? Coffee is fine if it's the church basement
kind. But not from Blue Monday or Starbuck's on Sunday. The portion must be
apportioned just so. A cup is too large. But a swig? Um? Who'd know?
Richard Esse Northfield

Posted by David at 7/07/2004 12:16:22 AM | Link   

 


I was endorsed by Education Minnesota this week. I welcomed this news, because this is an important endorsement to me - Education Minnesota is my union. I believe in the principles of the association and will be a proud advocate. I've been a member for nearly 30 years, and have been active since becoming a building rep in 1987. My beliefs about education show in my work, and for the past year I have been writing about them in this web log. You can compare my views to those of my opponent, by doing a search of 'education' on this site and his, and you can check his voting record at Minnesotavotes. A quick look shows the stark difference between David Bly and Ray Cox.



One of the consistent themes of my campaign is that investment in education is a means toward sharing the pie for the common good. Here's a report that argues that very point. Voters I encounter at meetings and when doorknocking are concerned about education funding as well. Click on the title if you want a copy in pdf format.

INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION BEST ROUTE TO FAIRER ECONOMY
As state and local governments face tight budgets, a new Economic Policy Institute report shows adequate and effective funding of education is the best way to achieve faster growth, more jobs, greater productivity, and more widely shared prosperity. "Smart Money: Education and Economic Development," by economic development expert William Schweke, shows how more investment in education, from preschool to college, spurs economic development through increases in productivity, learned skills, technology and workers' average earnings. At a time when our knowledge-based economy demands increasingly higher skills to stay competitive, support for well-resourced schooling and training is key, Schweke says. This strategy is also an important tool for advancing economic equality. As more public school students are poor, minority, or new immigrants, they need good education as a foundation to avoid many social problems stemming from poverty and inequality, and to eventually become productive, highly-skilled workers.

The governor, after all of his rhetoric that he would not harm education, seems to be arguing a different point now:

Minneapolis school cuts were overdue, Pawlenty says
Associated Press
Published July 1, 2004

Gov. Tim Pawlenty says the Minneapolis School Board should have already closed some schools to deal with its budget crunch.

The Minneapolis school district's budget for next year includes nearly $23 million in spending cuts. It cuts more than 600 teachers.

Pawlenty said Minneapolis has been slow to react to a dramatic decline in enrollment. He says he's been told there are 900 empty classrooms around the district.

"You can't have that much lost revenue and that much excess building capacity and sit on your hands," Pawlenty said.

Last year, the school board considered closing schools, but deferred a decision until this fall after a parent backlash. Its Citizens Budget Advisory Committee says the board will need to close eleven schools just to handle the expected enrollment drop of 4,600 students.
© Copyright 2004 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Why is this happening? Do we know what is causing the enrollment decline? What happened to keeping class sizes smaller? Here's another perspective:

Editorial: Buying teachers/Lawmakers must fund K-12
Published June 20, 2004

For families of school-age children, the "selling season" has become predictable as sunrise. Whether the product is candy bars, pizzas or magazine subscriptions, youngsters and parents have grown accustomed to raising funds for school extras. Who can resist cute junior salesmen when the cause is new playground equipment, band uniforms or special field trips?

But increasingly, school fundraising is being done for educational basics that should be supported by tax dollars. Now that many school boards have cut budgets for several years running, caring parents are shifting their efforts to buying things like paper, other classroom supplies, books -- and teachers.

It is one thing to have a raffle for new gym equipment, and quite another to pass the hat to keep Mrs. Jones in the classroom. That is a disturbing sign of desperate times. In many districts, the fat is long gone; now superintendents and boards are cutting into bone and muscle as they lay off teachers and other staff.

As a result, more parents and community groups are stepping in to try to close the gaps. Trouble is, those great intentions can create prickly equity problems. What happens when money easily is raised in an affluent school district but can't possibly be raised in a poor one? Who should decide where and how the funds are spent? Are soft funds sustainable? What happens the following year when money for the music teacher runs out? (For the complete article click here)

and another:

Doug Grow: Anyone care about schools?

Star Tribune
Published July 1, 2004

Where's the outrage? Where are the political leaders? Where are the Minnesotans who used to believe so passionately in public education?

The Minneapolis school board went about the business of again cutting the budget of the state's largest school district and laying off ever more teachers at its Tuesday afternoon meeting/wake.

These awful actions were greeted by apathy, mixed only with a little despair.

Sharon Henry-Blythe, president of the board in what may be the most desperate time in the district's history, said she went home with an empty feeling in her stomach.

"I keep waiting for some groundswell of anger," she said. "I keep waiting for people in the suburbs to join the people of Minneapolis in saying, 'Enough is enough. This is not what we're about.' "

But maybe it is what we're about. Maybe Minnesotans, once proud of the state's education system, have become comfortable with the idea that public education can take cuts, year after year.

This time around, the board voted on a budget that's $32 million less than last year's (down to $429 million). This time around, the district sent layoff notices to more than 600 teachers and 98 classroom aides.

The good news? These were relatively small cuts compared to the cuts in the previous three years.

But, of course, they're not small if you're one of the teachers or aides getting notified that your job, your career, probably is done, at least in Minneapolis.

Bonnie Rosenfield, who for four years was a health teacher at Roosevelt High, was at home Tuesday night when she got her call from a teacher's union official.

"You're left feeling numb," she said.

In the hours since that call, a million thoughts have gone through Rosenfield's mind.

There were sweet thoughts: "I got a wedding invitation from one of my recent students," she said. "Something like that makes you know you must matter."

Thoughts of anger: She talked about legislative mandates from the feds that go unfunded and said there's little legislative support for urban schools in the Minnesota Legislature.

Thoughts of futility: "It seems like there's very little appreciation for people in our society who work with kids. I just keep wondering: When is it that teachers became the bad guys?"

As a society, we face difficult choices when it comes to schools and our future. If we are serious about educating our work force and creating opportunities for more than just a few, we have to invest in our schools.

Posted by David at 7/03/2004 08:01:29 PM | Link