Open Forum: Change the law on teacher pacts

I believe there is unfairness in the Minnesota state law that fines (reduced aid) to school districts who fail to get a teachers' contract approved by a certain date. It takes two parties to tango therefore, it seems to me that both the school district and the local teacher's union should get equal fines. For example, the Brainerd School District lost $200,000 in state aid for failing to meet a contract date. Now the school district wasn't arguing with themselves. They were in disagreement with the local teachers' union. The law should be changed so both parties have some skin in the pot. The teachers' union should be fined $100,000 and that fine given to the school district. After the dust is settled the school district would be out $100,000 and the local teacher's union would be out $100,000. Will any of our district legislators support such a change in the law? If they won't support that change will any of their challengers agree to support such a change in the law?

Robert Olson

Rural Pequot Lakes

Who defines common sense?

I was taken to task for comparing the Tea Party group to the KKK and other similar groups. The only one I have real experience with personally is the KKK, when I was recruited for that group, which I didn't join. You had to be a Christian and belong to a church.

Words are cheap. Check the actions and the talk of the people that attend and join. I have met members of the Nazi party and they are pretty similar to the ones who were members of the KKK. If you didn't know they were members you would think they were just like everyone else and you would be close to being right. They seem to flock to and be more aligned with the bombastic demigods that are in vogue at any given time than the general population. They fear government and regard it as something bad, worry about being spied upon more than worrying about doing right so that it wouldn't make any difference if they were. They have a heightened sense of importance like they don't understand that mostly nobody cares who they are. They just aren't that important in the scheme of things to be worth spying on.

My observation of who they are like stems from who the leaders are and what they say they continually worry that the government taxes too much and they continually worry the they aren't getting enough from the government's trough. And as for their outlined goals they are just a marketing tool. Like common sense. What is common sense? Who defines it or which definition do you use? Hoover was using common sense when we entered the Great Depression and continued to descend. Roosevelt tried it again in 1937.

Jesse Nix

Emily