Readers Write: Minneapolis teachers strike, Bloomington water park

MINNEAPOLIS TEACHERS STRIKE

Students need stability

I've been awakened daily for over a week with honking, shouting, bullhorns. My gut reaction to these sounds is one of fear and loathing. The memories of burning buildings and rioting following the deaths of George Floyd and Winston Smith are still very fresh in my mind.

The grievances put forth by Minneapolis teachers may all be well and good; however, the timing of their strike is insensitive on many levels, foremost to the students. They have weathered two years of unpredictable, interrupted education due to the pandemic. The young ones may associate the word "strike" with something bad, that something bad has happened to their teachers, and some will suffer from their unspoken fears. At some point lessons will need to be reviewed before learning may continue, slowing learning trajectory. Missed days will need to be made up come summer vacation, which may be seen as punishment for something they did wrong.

Staging this strike on the heels of an unpredictable pandemic, as well as two years of civil mayhem and unrest in the city, compounds an underlying angst in Minneapolis. Teachers want mental health support, yet they themselves seem indifferent to the mental stress they are inflicting on students, families and citizens. As a citizen who is witnessing horrible deeds put upon fellow global citizens in Ukraine, I find the grievances of the Minneapolis teachers' union to be somewhat petty and very poorly timed. Perhaps we should be thankful for what we have, at least for the time being. Create stability in our children's lives before waging war with one another.

Denise Saupe, Minneapolis

•••

National politics have always appeared remarkably dysfunctional to me. They reached new extremes of rigidity and rancor in the past 10 years, but I do not remember a point in my lifetime when "reaching across the aisle" sounded like anything more than an empty platitude.

All the while, I assumed local politics were different. When we live in the same communities, when we see each other's faces, and when we buy cookies from each other's kids, we can't help but see more humanity in one another. I think those assumptions are being tested by the teachers strike in Minneapolis.

My kindergartner has been lying around at home all day because of this strike, so I have some biases about how this thing should end that arise from that personal experience. However, I'm not writing to persuade you to choose a side in the debate. I am writing to express disappointment in the mechanisms we have constructed to make these precious decisions.

I am not a teacher or a district administrator, so I don't know how the sausage of school funding is made. I do not see a single cause of this disagreement. I do not understand educational systems and institutions well enough to propose a better decision-making apparatus at this time, but I believe humans have the inherent capacity to make tough decisions that do not drive people apart.

I am willing to bet I will see more national government shutdowns in my lifetime because those politicians have too many competing interests. I believe we can do better. My belief is not based on some romantic conception of Minnesota culture. It is based on the belief that humans who live and work together can empathize and understand one another. This empathy and understanding are two of the most powerful ingredients to create unity of thought and action. These are the lessons my daughter was learning in kindergarten right up until we resorted to a strike. Are we assuming that, after children turn into adults, those lessons no longer apply?

In Minneapolis schools, we have a shared interest in the education of all our children. We have the capacity to dispassionately analyze a financial situation. If those ingredients don't light the path forward for us, that means we're doing it wrong. If we are looking at the same numbers but seeing different math, I think we need to take some big steps back to design a better system that doesn't leave us at odds. Regardless of the terms in the settlement that will end this strike, I am confident that we can design a system that does not lead us to this stage again.

Eddie Glenn, Minneapolis

•••

I think we can agree that the Minneapolis public school teachers believe that the district has more money than it says it has. Call me naive, but it seems that if the district were to open its books to one or more auditors representing the teachers union, the strike problem could be solved. Either the needed funding could be found or the teachers would have to accept that it really isn't there. If that happened, then the teachers and everyone else could turn their attention to the Legislature to provide what is needed. Contrary to a recent writer, taking a job in public service does not equal taking an oath of poverty.

David Rosene, Brooklyn Park

BLOOMINGTON WATER PARK

Community center would be better

My husband and I have lived in Bloomington for almost 44 years. We built a home here, raised our sons here and still remain here as senior citizens. We live on the "other half" of Bloomington – you know, where the taxes are the highest and the city amenities are becoming questionable.

After reading about the enthusiasm of our Bloomington mayor, City Council members and other powers that be about spending taxpayer dollars on a water park adjacent to the Mall of America, I knew I had to speak ("Bloomington officials OK tax subsidy for water park near Mall of America," March 10). The last time I drove down Interstate 494 eastbound, earlier this week, I verified that there is indeed still a water park almost directly across Cedar Avenue from the MOA. Is it attached to MOA? No. Does it need to be? No. Is it enough? Yes.

Why is a water park taking precedence over a community center that every age of Bloomington citizen could benefit from? Why don't we have a family-oriented, true community center where all the generations of Bloomington families can come together for community, socialization, special events, physical activities, sports and swimming? Bet we could build something pretty incredible.

Our taxes for this year have gone up 25%. We tell ourselves that it's because we live in a wonderful neighborhood near Bush Lake, and we love it here with the nearby water, lots of wildlife and so forth. I can guarantee that those of you making decisions now will be senior citizens in what will feel like about 15 minutes. Are you going to stay in Bloomington? Probably not — you will move somewhere that has natural amenities like lakes and community amenities, and you will probably be looking for some updated public transportation that will get you to those places as well. Bloomington won't be the city for you — even though you helped create what it will be at that time.

Becky Jensen, Bloomington

•••

Those of us concerned about the environment view another indoor water park near the Mall of America as a ridiculous idea. The facility would use a lot of electricity for operations, would use precious water, and would create vehicle pollution by those driving to and from it. The high admission fee would further widen the gap between the haves and have-nots. There are better ways to spend public money.

Sharon Fortunak, St. Paul