Home Page

Opinion

Sunday Night
MaryHelen Swanson, editor

I do agree that a new school building is needed in North Branch, but not so much ìnew,î as a building. But then, you cannot build an ìoldî building. The numbers demand the new school, and one big enough to handle the many more children that will be coming into the district. And they will be coming.
I would calm the fears of those who are concerned that their children are not going to get a good education in any of the current school buildings. The physical structure hasnít that much to do with learning; the most important pieces of the puzzle are the staff and resources that the children have access to.
You have good teachers here in North Branch. They will provide a good educational experience for your children under any circumstances, and in some cases, making do and being flexible are good things to teach the children. Will we lose teachers if they donít have a state-of-the-art building in which to teach? I would hope that the love of children and drive to help them learn would keep the good teachers here. I would hope that they wouldnít be any more influenced by fancy schools than the lure of higher salaries, which they could probably get in some affluent suburban schools, if jobs were open.
If you want to see poor schools, check out the inner cities. I worked at a Summit Avenue school in St. Paul some years ago that could qualify for making parents shudder. In high school, I was also an exchange student to an inner city school that I found frightening, and while that was quite a few years ago, I know that many inner city schools still deal with old, deteriorating buildings and crowded conditions - and many more issues such as language barriers and cultural differences and ... Some of the conditions you see on television shows are very real. Yet, for those students who are encouraged and challenged and want to learn, the building has little to do with whether or not they come out with a good education. And by the way, parental support is another very important part of the equation.
I say we give more credit to staff members, who work under difficult conditions in some cases, for their tenacity, perseverance and dedication to making school a positive experience for your children.
As I already said, the new building is a must just because of the actual numbers now and in the future. Donít worry so much about your children getting a poor education. I know the administration, school board and staff arenít going to let that happen.
Have faith in these people, but vote for the new building, because the kids need a place to learn.

Top of Page

©ECM Post Review

6448 Main Street
North Branch, MN 55056
Telephone: 651-674-7025
Fax: 651-674-7026
E-mail: editor.postreview@ecm-inc.com