Always read the fine print
behind fat pie slices and
and popular patriotic bills
I need to apologize to our Rep. Doug Magnus, who replies in a letter on this page to my March 6 column about Pledge of Allegiance legislation.
My intent wasn’t to imply that he’s not busy. On the contrary, I remember Gov. Pawlenty, during his visit to Luverne, complimenting Magnus as "one of the brightest and most ambitious freshman legislators in the House."
I was glad to hear that, and I respect the work Magnus does in the interest of southwest Minnesota.
That said, I’m sorry he missed the point of my March 6 column.
I tried to be clear that I sincerely believe in the importance of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in classrooms. As the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, I respect the flag and the hard-earned freedoms it represents, and I want my children to grow up with the same patriotic values.
My point, if I can try to be more clear, is that our local districts already require the Pledge to be recited in their classrooms. We don’t need a law, no matter how popular and appropriate it may seem, to implement what’s already there.
As veterans’ groups and everyone else scramble to endorse the bill, they should pause to read the fine print it carries.
The law would allow districts that don’t want the Pledge policy to opt out of it by a simple majority vote on their school boards. This option already exists for all school boards and school districts.
If we’re trying to change districts not currently requiring the Pledge recital, those voters need only lobby their school board members to change the policy.
No state law is needed.
Magnus can allocate time in his demanding schedule to other more useful bills, like (I’ll say it again) protecting education funding, which he says is safe.
Check the fine print
on education funding
While the pie graph shows the state is spending more money than ever on education, the amount of money schools are receiving, in most cases, is actually decreasing.
I’d invite him to join any school board meeting in southwest Minnesota and tell them their budgets are safe.
The reason for the expanding education slice on the state pie is that lawmakers in the Ventura era shifted school funding from property taxes to state sales and income tax. This shows up as more spending on the state side, because the state assumed the burden our local property tax levy used to.
Because the state now has to pay for that decision, it doesn’t mean schools are seeing more money.
Magnus can go ahead and carry his Pledge bill with no harm (or anything for that matter) done.
The common lesson in this friendly little banter is probably two-fold:
Things are rarely as they appear, and, for that reason
Always read the fine print.
A fat slice on the state budget pie chart doesn’t ensure adequate school funding, and a popular bill requiring the Pledge of Allegiance doesn’t ensure school patriotism.
Published March 20, 2003.
