Oct 25, 2007 7:52 pm US/Central
Heated Levy Battle In Robbinsdale District
ROBBINSDALE, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Paul Dorr has been hired by a group against a referendum effort in the Robbinsdale School District.
CBS
The fight is on to
increase taxes to fund education and in the Robbinsdale School District,
the battle is getting ugly.
"Vote NO" signs
are popping up on lawns throughout the district. A group called Citizens Acting for
Responsible Education is urging voters to vote against a proposed $9.7 million
operating levy.
The group, which calls
itself 281 Care, for short, has hired a proven winner to help defeat levy
supporters. Paul Dorr, of Copperhead Consulting Services in Iowa, is leading the fight to defeat the
referendum.
"They're using
rather inflammatory language to describe things that they aren't really
providing, I don't think, the facts," said Lynn Osterman, who is the
committee co-chair for Vote Yes.
Dorr and the 281 Care
group refused to talk to WCCO-TV about their opposition. Their signs say "Support the Kids,
Oppose the Waste".
"I keep asking,
'Where's the waste,'" Robbinsdale superintendent Stan Mack said. "We
have no waste in this district."
Mack said money for
schools in the Robbinsdale district is so tight, if the referendum isn't
passed, class sizes will grow and programs like the arts and extracurricular
activities will be cut.
"I would prefer to
not be asking taxpayers to do that, but morally and ethically it is the
ultimate question to protect children," Mack said.
Opponents are sick of
seeing property taxes going up again, just seven years after the last levy was
approved.
"If people have the
facts, the big picture, they'll make an informed decision and it won't be in
favor of what someone from Iowa
is telling us to think about our local schools," Osterman said. Of the 54 referendums
Dorr has fought against, all but seven have failed. Even his opponents in the
Robbinsdale district admit he knows what he is doing with his last-minute
tactics.The two sides have not
yet talked. The Vote Yes group has arranged a forum for next week and has
invited the 281 Care group. There is no
word yet as to whether a representative from the 281 Care group will attend,
but Dorr will definitely not be attending.Right now, the
Robbinsdale district is in line with the state average when it comes to how
much it spends per student.It spends about $8,500
per student, which is the same as Osseo.
Edina
spends about $8,200 on student and Anoka-Hennepin spends just over $8,000 per
student.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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