South metro letters to the editor

What can be lost by avoiding the census Thank you, Michele Bachmann, for telling your constituents not to fill out the 2010 Census so your seat in the House of Representatives will cease to exist.

If my great-grandparents had not filled out the 1880 Census in the Dakota Territory, I would never have found out that my grandfather was born and lived in Laura Ingalls Wilder's house in DeSmet, the "Little Town on the Prairie" in Dakota Territory before South Dakota became a state.

When investigating my family history for a college history class, the census helped me trace both sides of my family, from my father's parents immigrating from Switzerland and Germany to Ellis Island and then Nebraska and on to South Dakota, and my mother's ancestors immigrating prior to 1776 from religious persecution in Britain to Massachusetts and New York and then on to Walnut Grove, Minn., and finally DeSmet, Dakota Territory.

So thank you, Michele Bachmann, for telling your constituents not to fill out the 2010 Census, so your descendents will not be able to trace your family ancestry either. Bravo!

DEE GRIFFIN

EAGAN

Funding Pell grants with loan income is logical So, Rep. John Kline believes government should be fostering jobs in the private sector to manage student loans at a cost of some $58 billion?

I suggest the increased student availability of Pell grants made possible by the savings associated with the move from private industry-managed student loans to direct government loans will be a much wiser investment in America's future than continuing to finance the banking industry to manage these loans.

I find Kline's logic to be lacking.

RALPH PAMPERIN

CHANHASSEN

State blew chance at Race to the Top As president of Westonka Education Minnesota, I am one of the local teacher union presidents who did not sign a school district application for Race to the Top (RTTT).

First, the Minnesota Department of Education did not unveil their application for local education leaders to see until early December, when they conducted two webinars. Then, the department only gave school districts until mid-January to sign on.

With the two-week Winter Break, that only left me 13 days to communicate RTTT to my members and organize a vote. This narrow timeline prevented me from even attempting to get a vote for the application.

Why did the department wait so long to present their application and give us so little time to respond?

Second, the department's application stated that school districts would have to restructure their pay system, reorganize seniority and change teacher evaluations, without identifying how each would be changed. So teachers were supposed to sign onto a program without any specifics?

Finally, once a local union signed on to the plan, its members could not back out later if they did not like the specifics. That local would be forced to accept the terms.

Maybe if our governor spent more time in Minnesota and less time running for president, we could solve these problems and improve education for all children.

MARC DOEPNER-HOVE

MOUND

What happened to flu vaccine shortage? Do I have this straight? Last fall, when I called my clinic to get the H1N1 flu shot, I was asked how old I was. When I said 70-something, the receptionist said very politely that I was too old, that they were only giving the shots to people ages 65 and under. So I just as politely asked her if I was too old to get the flu? No reply!

Now I'm hearing on TV and the radio that they are discarding the vaccine as they have much too much. Go figure!