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Republicans believe that the
legislature should respect the capacity of local school districts
parents and teachers to make appropriate rules and standards for
their own classrooms. Local school districts should not be forced to
conform their educational programs to every ideological whim of politicians in St. Paul.
Specifically, Republicans are vigilant in protecting the right of
parents to have legitimate control over and strong input into how
their children are educated. |
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Wrong: |
Integration Revenue
Program – $115.3 million (Session Laws 2005 (1st Special Session),
Chapter 5, Article 2, Section 84, Subdivision 4.) These are grants
to school districts for integration-related activities and represent
another example of a government program that rewards failure. A 2005
report by the
Legislative Auditor found that racial concentration has
increased in many of the districts that receive this revenue. The
program creates a disincentive to integrate—the more integrated a
district becomes, the less money it receives. In this way, the
program promotes racial segregation. The auditor's report noted the
vague guidelines of the program and the lack of measurable outcomes
for program evaluation. Some districts use the money to boost their
general budgets, including purchasing books and computers. There’s
no accountability for how this money is spent. (2. p14) |
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Right: |
Republicans
neither propose nor support this kind of
uncontrolled spending on a program that produces results opposite to
its stated goals and incorporates no mechanism for evaluation or
termination. |
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| Wrong: |
Rep. Neva Walker
(D-Minneapolis) would authorize school districts to provide Students
in K-12 with "age-appropriate materials that address varied societal
views on sexuality, sexual behaviors, pregnancy, and sexually
transmitted infections, including HIV, in an age-appropriate
manner.” The bill would require such instruction for grades 7-12.
(House File 615) (1) |
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Right: |
Rep. Walker wants to remove the right of
local school districts to determine whether, when, and in what way
the very personal issue of sexuality is dealt with in its
classrooms. Republicans support the ability of local school
districts and school parents to determine the content of sex
education in their schools. |
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Wrong: |
Rep. Karen Clark
(D-Minneapolis) would allow anyone over the age of 23 to enroll in a
high school, even if they are not a resident of the school district
or a U.S. citizen. (House File 1176) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans believe that
it is a perfectly reasonable educational judgment to limit the age
of students who can enroll in high school. Further, it is good
public policy that enrollees in a high school be residents of that
school district. And finally, Republicans do not believe the
legislature should be creating programs that encourage illegal
immigration and attract illegal aliens to Minnesota. |
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Wrong: |
ILLEGAL ALIENS TO GET
IN-STATE TUITION: Rep. Carlos Mariani (D-St. Paul) wants illegal
aliens to get in-state tuition. Illegal aliens would get discount
tuition if they spent three years in a Minnesota high school, earned
a GED, and promised to file to become resident aliens at their
earliest possible opportunity. (House File 722)
ILLEGAL ALIENS TO GET IN-STATE TUITION; BADGERS TO PAY MORE: Rep.
Debra Hilstrom (D-Brooklyn Center) wants to give in-state college
tuition to illegal aliens who file a paper saying they are applying
to legalize their immigration status. The same bill would raise
tuition for students from Wisconsin and some other states, instead
of relying on their home states to pay the difference under
reciprocity agreements. (House File 682)
ILLEGAL ALIENS TO PAY SAME TUITION; MINNESOTA RESIDENTS HIT: Rep.
Diane Loeffler (D-Minneapolis) wants to set tuition for MnSCU
colleges and universities at the same rate for all students.
Minnesota residents would lose their in-state advantage over both
students from other states and illegal aliens. (House File 1032) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans
do not believe the legislature should be creating programs that
encourage illegal immigration and attract illegal aliens to
Minnesota. |
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| Wrong: |
Rep. Tom Tillberry
(D-Fridley) offered a bill with a blank check for school districts
to hire people to provide for the “emotional and social well-being”
of students. The blank appropriation would pay for more school
counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and other
“licensed student services personnel.” (House File 808) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans do not propose big spending,
feel good programs like this one offered by Rep. Tillberry who is
mindless of the decades of studies showing how little benefit is
derived from spending additional millions of dollars on unneeded
services such as these. (3) |
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Imperfect: |
Rep. Tom Tillberry (D-Fridley) wants a
$2,400 tax break for parents who volunteer at their children’s
schools. (House File 477) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans would like
to see a $2,400 tax break for every parent of a school-aged child.
It's called a voucher and Democrats oppose it. |
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Wrong: |
Rep. Karen Clark
(D-Minneapolis) wants to make Minneapolis schools “fragrance free”
by banning perfumes, air fresheners, scented lotions, and scented
cleaning products. With half of the students failing to read or
cipher at grade level, this bill smells. (House File 2148) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans legislators do not spend
their time thinking of ways tocontrol
every aspect of every school classroom in the state, preferring to
leave matters like this to those in charge of the classroom |
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| Sources: |
| 1. |
MN House Republicans, Marty Seifert's
office, 2007. |
| 2. |
2006 MINNESOTA PIGLET BOOK, Taxpayers League Foundation
& Citizens Against Government Waste. |
| 3. |
"The school districts that spend more per pupil actually
tend to perform worse than those which spend less. Top-performing
Minnesota school districts spend $1,400 less per pupil than worst
performing school districts." "Getting
Results" brochure prepared by the Minnesota Education League
Foundation. |
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