Republicans in our Legislature want no new money spent on early childhood education. If there was ever a reason to vote for another party this fall this is it. We live in very troubling times and these children need the stability and the tools early on to make it in this world. They are eager to learn and early childhood education can strengthen that base for a continued desire to grow and learn. We need funding for mental health education that begins early so children and teens are aware of the signs of mental illness. We have had countless tragedies in our schools and often the signs were there but many did not know what they were seeing.
To not educate is the ultimate wrong doing against these children. We need to be building and not pigeonholing our youth, we need to be opening their minds to what could be and what they could achieve. Education is the main tool for doing this. Value needs to be placed on education and educators. We need to do this for our youth and our society as a whole. In other countries children are often held back from education because the powers do not want children to grow up and start asking questions or looking for a better way of life. Hopefully we are better than that!
Deb Halsted
Brainerd
