[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: A Failure to Communicate

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
A Failure to Communicate
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1197958035.shtml


   I attended the Robbinsdale Area Schools (281) board meeting this
   evening, the last regular session of the year. Besides regular
   business, an overview of the proposed budget cuts and options was
   presented.
   I took a lot of notes and could make a number of detailed
   observations, but I'll wait to see what happens tomorrow night at a
   Public Hearing at the Robbinsdale Area Learning Center, i.e., the old
   Robbinsdale High School, 7 pm.
   The cuts are significant, so much so that I fear their static analysis
   may not hold up. By significant, I don't mean so much financially as
   disruptively to the students. Under one scenario, some first grade
   students that walk to school today will be bused to another school
   next year, and still another the year after that. When they get to
   middle school, they'll find most activities either gone or
   prohibitively expensive. They'll have a few more choices in high
   school, but fewer than today, and even more expensive than in middle
   school.
   As I listened to the various discussions and presentations, I came
   away more convinced than ever that what we have here is a failure to
   communicate. The choice of words, the phrasing, and the underlying
   assumptions were all designed to communicate among themselves, with
   jargon, strange sounding program names, and needless abbreviations.
   When I suggested afterward to some of them that the general public
   finds this hard to follow, I sensed some genuine surprise.
   I also felt some genuine concern and angst, by two of the board
   members in particular, and I had a good conversation with one of them
   afterwards. In fact, I felt a little sorry for them, unable to see
   beyond their once tidy, unquestioned world in the public sector.
   The board and staff are as much puzzled as disappointed by the failure
   of the levy. What's not to get? Don't the voters believe in education?
   The only answer that makes sense to them is that they were ambushed by
   the CARE 281 (vote no) effort, and they could only have been
   successful by lying.
   The good news is that they seem to have put that behind them and are
   moving forward as best they can. Better still, they truly seem
   interested in another point of view and I shall indeed oblige them.