MAP 150

MAP 150 has truly required a leap of faith. I repeatedly find skepticism everywhere–(subject of my next post). But if you haven’t checked out Students Speak Out or Property Tax Facts lately, you should. You’ll see firsthand the power of involving citizens.

We have many new members on Students Speak Out, as a result of Carolyn Avaire’s presentation at the Minnesota Asssociation of Alternatives Program annual meeting that students attend. 122 students responded! 38 said they were interested in being student leaders. This suggests to me that students do have something to say and they will take the time to be involved if given the opportunity.

They continue to say important and thoughtful things.

Ashley writes: I was in the district and I needed help and they basically told my step mom to sent me to Irondale which was the district next to us.

Kasie writes: When you reach High School you are supposed to be older and mature and know right from wrong. Well why don’t they give us one chance to show we are?? From the minute you step into the door they are looking for you to screw up.

Can there be any doubt that we need to listen to students?

Property taxes can be a pretty dry subject. But citizens from three counties took their time to discuss with us what they’d like to know. One hot issue is school referenda. The citizens said that they felt like it was impossible to get good, unbiased information– instead, they feel heavy pressure from both sides. So we put together a very basic drop down menu on the website where people can look up their district’s data. We had over 5500 visits in one week. Two-thirds of those who took our survey said that the information did or might influence their vote.

What might this mean? Perhaps that people do want good information and that they are willing to learn. Again, if provided the right opportunity, they will involve themselves.