Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Friday, May 02, 2008

Education funding complex, voter emotion simple

By Jim Galewski

The business aspect of public education is very complicated.

I am never surprised by the complicated formulas our district has to follow. I have faith that the Winona Area Public Schools has administrators who understand the complexity of public education funding. I am sure each new school board member was overwhelmed trying to understand how business gets done in the complicated world of public education when they joined the board.

In those complexities, the school board and administrators have found a shortcut to the taxpayers’ pocketbook. It comes in the form of a lease. If the district has to lease a property to do business, it can bill the taxpayer directly.

Traditionally, school districts needed taxpayer approval — usually through a referendum — to increase the district’s funding. The district had been leasing space as it saw a need for it.

When the district needed a new home for the Winona Area Learning Center, it discovered how to bypass voter approval for a new building. Through creative bookkeeping, the district is technically leasing the new building from Wells Fargo — even though the district owns the land and designed the building. That was the first taste of a new revenue stream for the district.

The district is coming back to the well again. The district wants to use the same strategy to fund improvements for the track and football field at Paul Giel Field. The administration doesn’t see a problem with upgrading the field to artificial turf because it won’t impact district finances. The taxpayers will be billed for it.

Board members rationalize the impact to the taxpayer will be slight. That’s what they said about the first proposal and they used the same rationalization about the WALC. Those slight increases add up.

If board members and administrators can comprehend the complex workings of public education, they should also understand this very simple rule: Tick off the public and lose our trust and voters won’t support you. Apparently that simple concept is over their heads.

Tie a yellow ribbon round the old ash tree

We have some yellow ribbons around trees, but it’s not a love message.

The yellow ribbon and the band of tree bark removed from the tree identifies it as part of a study to see if the emerald ash borer has migrated to Minnesota. The insidious bug kills ash trees. The only way it can travel to Minnesota is to be brought in with firewood from other states. Most campers who bring their own firewood don’t know what kind of wood they are hauling. The larvae live in ash trees and almost certainly kill them — making them logical candidates for firewood.

According to city forester Bruce Fuller, the city has volunteered six ailing ash trees for the study. The bark removal will kill the tree and the tree will be cut down and inspected for the ash borer.

Fuller says the beetle only harms ash trees. If the beetle has entered Minnesota, authorities want to eradicate the bug before we lose all our ash trees.

Adult beetles are metallic green and about 1/2-inch long.

Adults leave a D-shaped exit hole in the bark when they emerge in spring.

Woodpeckers like the larvae; heavy woodpecker damage on ash trees may be a sign of infestation.

Firewood cannot be moved in many areas of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland because of the ash borer quarantine.

The beetle probably came from Asia in wood packing material.

Don’t confuse priests and ministers

As a loyal Catholic, I take exception to some of the recent stories about Winonan Kathy Redig, who is to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest.

There are no female Roman Catholic priests. There is a sect that calls themselves the “Roman Catholic Womenpriests,” but by their own choice they have chosen to leave their traditional Catholic faith and make their own rules.

I appreciate Redig’s growth in faith, but it has evolved away from the Catholic Church. That’s her choice.

She — and her group — aren’t changing the Catholic Church; they are leaving it. Her followers will be doing the same. From the days of Martin Luther and John Calvin to the current troubles in the Catholic Church, people have broken away from the church and started their own religion.

Redig can call herself a priest, but she isn’t one.

She may be a church leader, but she won’t be leading Catholics.

I would have no trouble praying with Redig. I wouldn’t want to attend a service she leads. It might confuse me. That’s what I’m afraid might happen to some very good Catholics. I hope they understand that Redig and her group have drawn a line in the sand and to follow them is to turn your back on your Catholic faith.

Galewski is the retired editor and Opinion page editor of the Winona Daily News. Call Jim at (507) 452-3960. His e-mail is editor@luminet.net.