Commentary; Posted: 12/24/02

Education league article on schools misleads readers

Shawn Otto
Guest Columnist

It came under the inflammatory headline ìSchool District Officials May Be Misleading Voters.î But it should have said ìThis Local Paper May Be Misleading Readers.î

One has to wonder just what motivated the Country Messenger of Scandia to print the pseudo-article from Randy Wanke, executive director of the Minnesota Education League, the new front for the discredited Minnesota Taxpayerís League (Dec. 18, 2002).

One has to wonder because the piece was submitted by a political organization from Plymouth, about a school district in Inver Grove Heights ó in short, it had nothing to do with the reporting area of the Country Messenger, and it was submitted by someone who doesnít live or work here.

The apparent conclusion is that the Country Messenger is now engaging itself as a propaganda tool of the Minnesota Taxpayerís League, and attempting to foment mistrust between its readers and the school districts they live in, rather than factually serving them with real information.

That conclusion is supported by the ìarticleísî headline and generalized wording, which is designed to grab a reader and plant just that message.

In the Forest Lake School District community, thatís a message and a method we object to. Both Forest Lake and Stillwater voters have sent the message that we donít like outsiders trying to manipulate us in this way.

Most papers donít accept this kind of submission, and I for one am disappointed that the Country Messenger would lower its editorial standard to this degree. The ìarticleî wasnít printed as a letter to the editor or opinion piece, but rather a piece of factual journalism. Further, the innuendo it cast is dead wrong.

We just had our public audit a few weeks ago in Forest Lake School District, duly reported in some papers, and had either Mr. Wanke or the editor of the Country Messenger attended, they would have heard what the residents of our district heard: Forest Lake School District is doing great ó thanks to the levy our community passed last year, which Wankeís group of outsiders fought tooth and nail to defeat.

The auditor said this was the best audit report they have ever given our district, and he was very congratulatory. Not only did we come in under budget, we achieved our objectives of reducing class sizes and restoring programs, while at the same time retiring our statutory operating debt at a rate faster than planned.

The residents of our area should be proud of our districtís excellent financial management of taxpayer resources, and of our communityís support of our schools.

That is the kind of news the Country Messenger should be printing, not Mr. Wankeís propaganda.

Writer Shawn Otto is a resident of May Township and a resident of the Forest Lake Area School District.

Top of Page