March 8, 2011
Thanks for emailing me your concerns about potential education cuts
Early in this legislative session I was making an effort to personally reply to every email. Two weeks into the session I changed to only replying personally to emails I could tell were from my district and I sent the rest a cut and paste generic reply. Now, even that isn't possible. Why? The school district(s) used their emergency notification communication system get the masses to send email. My inbox had 400 education-related emails from Friday PM to Monday AM. (West River legislators comment that 80% of their education emails are from Sioux Falls). Several hundred of these emails contained these two sentences, verbatim:
"We are taxpayers and we expect K-12 education to be funded without a decrease."
"The childen in our state are depending on you. Please don't let them down."
Please consider this post my mass reply… Thanks for emailing me your concerns about potential education cuts. I share your concerns and want you to know all options are on the table and great effort is underway in seeking ways to minimize cuts - you'll see in the news already cuts have been reduced from 10% to 6.6% - stay tuned as this ain't over 'til it's over.
As I'm married to a teacher, I should know better than to use the word ain't in replying to a bunch of educators. Mrs. Hickey taught for years here in both the Sioux Falls and Harrisburg districts. Just for fun I'll share I did get some emails loaded with lousy english. One that comes to mind was the simple note:
"Dear Rep. Hickey, We can't not have any more cuts to increasing education funding again this year."
Here's an email related to the snowmobile/coyote bill that more illustrated to me the need for better education in South Dakota- I'll quote it exactly as I it came to me:
Deer I encurage you to vote against SB55
its in humaneto chase something to its death
will more then likly increes trustpassing
will make it harder for people who hunt them
and is unsafe to humans
Most emails were gracious and I appreciate that - a few were, to put it nicely… silly. For example, yesterday a gentlemen wrote and accused me and every Republican of being feudal lords who apparently want the masses we control to remain uneducated.
More from the lighter side— of my three kids, two are still at home– a junior and senior in high school (public). A few weeks ago I asked what they thought about the Governor's proposed 10% cuts to education. They responded by suggesting, in jest, specific teachers they'd like to see get a pink slip. I have no real point in sharing that except it was a moment of levity which I needed at that moment.
I appreciate emails more than I do these postcards. Each day we are getting stacks of these cards in the mail and I know it's part of the process but unless there is a handwritten note they head right into the trash.
As this post has been about modes of constituent feedback to legislators regarding education funding, I'll share an example of things not to do. Stories like the following are filtering in from all over the state… a certain legislator's fifth grade daughter's class was given the assignment to call "Sally's" mom and ask her why she wants to cut school funding. That evening, little girls were calling Sally's home asking for her mom. It's a bummer that Sally's friends were turned against her mom and little Sally was upset. Thankfully the superintendent shut that assignment down.
Might I suggest a better activity for helping school children understand these things. Get some construction paper and have them cut pieces of a pie - tell them the 47% piece of the pie is for education, 37% is for taking care of people, 12% is for protecting the public and 4% is for the rest of state government. Then tell them the federal government is mandating the "taking care of people" piece of the pie increase 10%. The assignment can be they have to increase that part of the pie and do so without letting the children of South Dakota down.
Older students can discuss the pros and cons of using rainy day funds when it's only partly cloudy in South Dakota (as compared to California, Illiois, etc, etc) or discuss the pros and cons of tax increases during a recession.
In 2014 I suggest a class assignment might be to have children call all the parents who voted for Obama and ask how they think our state government should pay for the 58,000 additional people Obamacare mandates our state adds to the medcaid rolls. It'd be a great discussion about how this creates an impossible and unsustainable situation for the states.
Comments on Thanks for emailing me your concerns about potential education cuts »
caheidelberger @ 7:40 pm
Dad-burn it! Quit making me like you with these lengthy posts from Pierre!
On pie: I would include in my lesson for the kids that there's a whole bunch more construction paper sitting on the shelf that they could use to make the pie bigger, if they so choose.
I will admit, the idea of a teacher sending kids home to make legislative calls makes me uneasy. There are restrictions on using public resources for political purposes. When I teach, when I'm at that lectern, even when I'm writing debate ballots at weekend tournaments, I consider myself to be in a political no-fly zone.
Suzanne Veenis @ 9:25 pm
Stay strong. Stay tough. You get it. I hope the others around you do when it come time to make final decisions. Prayers continue for all of you, for our state, and for our country.
Take care,
Suzanne
Lora Hubbel @ 8:23 am
LOl, Great post, Hickey, you take cake! (er, pie)
Carla Dunlap @ 12:22 pm
I'm extremely disappointed in your response and playing the blame game.
Greg Belfrage @ 8:29 pm
Rep. Hickey, you're not the only one troubled by the district's use of its emergency communication system to push their funding agenda. I received two robocalls and two emails encouraging me to call my lawmakers (one for each of my children enrolled in the SFSD), as well as another email the district sent to their database. Each of these emails contained scripts to send to lawmakers. I find it an appalling use of the system.
My wife is also a teacher. I value and respect our teachers deeply. However, I have no love for administrators and school boards or the questionable tactics they have used this session, especially here in Sioux Falls.
I have no wish to see our state cut the education budget. But these are difficult times. Most of us recognize that lawmakers are doing their best to balance our budget, reduce spending, and do it without raising taxes. I appreciate your efforts toward that end, Mr. Hickey.
Nicole @ 10:04 pm
Rep Hickey,
Great post. As I consoled my 2 crying daughters last night because they saw the "scary" red poster on the school walls threatening to cut almost every program near and dear to their heart, I became even more disappointed with the tactics used by the school district. Inquiring further, my daughters informed me that students are talking about how their teachers are going to lose their jobs and no one should vote for our Governor next time because it is all his fault. When I began to explain the very things that you state so well in your post, it was completely new information to them. Great teaching moment for me, but a poor reflection on what they are learning in school on this issue.
Personally,I do not want to see education funding decrease. I don't think anyone wants to see education funding get cut. But, the reality is that everyone needs to tighten their belt.
I appreciate your thoughtful approach, along with so many other legislators, in finding a compromising solution to this issue. My hope is that our school district will follow your lead.
tom @ 8:59 am
Pesky citizens and voters. At least that's the tone and tenor you were hoping for wasn't it?
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Nancy Peske @ 3:06 pm
So many states are struggling with the same issues! I think we can all agree that for starters, it'd be a good idea to get rid of waste–in government, corporations, and schools. If you know of waste for goodness' sakes speak up and do something.It's easy to click on an internet form and send an email to your rep, but how many of us show our fannies up at the School Board budget meetings with open minds and creative juices flowing?
Now, Steve, I have to say the pie of tax dollars is an artificial construct. We all crab about taxes (Who wants to pay higher taxes? Raise your hand!) but any Scandinavian will tell you it's not about taxes but what they buy. As long as health care is broken, the pie itself will be too small. As long as we coddle corporations that overpay CEOS and refuse to pay taxes, the pie will shrink further. But the corporations own Washington and no one wants to fix health care because that takes too much work and requires grown ups to assess facts and use critical thinking skills and actually care about real human beings they don't know. Call me cynical *sigh*
I'd say there's a legit disagreement between who operates more efficiently, governments or corporations. Having seen astonishing examples of ineptitude in corporations my entire life, and having noticed that all the really smart folks with integrity in my social circle work in public service or nonprofits or are self-employed, I'm not inclined toward giving ANY credence to companies having a lick of competence. But I am willing to admit there is SOME stupidity and ineptitude elsewhere that needs to be cleaned up. I just think it's utterly goofball to be cutting education and paying for fruitless wars in places known as "the graveyard as empire" when it doesn't make us one jot later. I lived through 9/11 as a New Yorker. Forget the wars. Give me affordable health care and THAT will make me feel safer.
Nancy Peske @ 3:09 pm
later–> safer. My bad!