Thank you. Great at 6 minutes now past 11. Today's programming is made possible in part by The Advocates in Minnesota Public Radio contributors include Deluxe Corporation Foundation. And good morning. Welcome to midday on Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Gary Acton today at midday. We're going to focus on education the polls consistently show that education is right at the top of the list of issues that minnesotans care about and last night the American Association of University women got all three major party candidates for Governor together to discuss their views on education. What would they do to improve the education system if I got elected November 3rd or almost held at the University of st. Thomas and I'd only featured some extended comments by each of the candidates bought a lively question and answer session as well as first hour at midday will hear from each of the candidates then over the noon hour will have the question and answer session will also be talking with education expert Joe Nathan about the Forum will be talking with Minnesota's New Teacher of the Year Ellen Delaney to get her perspectives on what's happening in the classroom and will be opening the phone lines to get your reaction to the Canada. Comments on education all of that coming up over the noon hour. But first of all here to begin is Doctor. I need a Pam push the director of the Bush foundation and moderator of last night's Forum on education before I introduce the candidate. I just want to say a word about the format. We will be following as we go along. Each candidate has been provided with a list of questions and education both K through 12 education and higher education from which they may select in or do in full as they're making their remarks. Each one will make a 15 minute presentation of his own views on the subject. This form is not meant to be a debate among the candidates. Although I assume that there will be differences in their positions which will be displayed as they make their responses but a forum in which they interact with the audience responding to your questions. So it's very important for you to the audience to play a very active role in this forum. All of our candidates have served in elective office at the city or state level all have been involved with education issues in those roles and interesting the enough each has chosen a running mate with a background in education. I'm going to introduce them and the order in which they will be speaking Jesse Ventura is the Reform Party candidate for governor. He served as mayor of the city of Brooklyn Park from 1991 to 1995. He had been a professional wrestler and is now a professional broadcaster and an actor. He is currently hosts of a radio talk show. His running mate is May Shunk. Speaking 2nd will be Norm Coleman the Republican candidate for governor and currently serving his second term as mayor of the city of st. Paul. This is an office to which he was elected first in 1993 prior to his election as mayor. He served for 17 years in the Minnesota State Attorney General's office where he held the position of the state solicitor general and served as head of the state's Criminal Division. His running mate is Senator Jen Olson. The third speaker will be Hubert H. Skip Humphrey the third the dfl candidate for governor. Attorney general how free is currently serving the state of Minnesota in a role to which he was first elected in 1982 and has been re-elected subsequently several times prior to his service in the Attorney General's office. He served as a state senator for 10 years. And before that was in private law practice and served as Deputy US Marshal in Washington DC. His running mate is Senator Rodger mole. We will begin with mister Ventura. So I will ask him please to come forward to the podium. Good evening, and thank you for inviting me tonight. And thank you all for coming out and being concerned citizens as you should be I'm happy this is taking place tonight because I'm very concerned that some debates are currently being canceled in the near future here between now and election time and I'm very disturbed over that fact because I like informed voters and we in the Reform Party feel very strongly that voters should be informed and they should be informed on the issues so that they can make an informed judgment when they go out in do vote and I do urge everyone to vote. It is your civic duty. I was born in South Minneapolis. I went to Cooper Grade School Sanford Junior High School in Minneapolis Roosevelt High School. I'm a product of the public school system. My wife likewise is a product of public school system and I'm the only candidate up here that feels so strongly that I send my children to the public schools for Their entire education and I think that's something that you have to believe in if you're going to be here and you're going to Advocate a solid public school education. I think you should have enough. Oh, what should we call it to send your own children there as an example that you believe in the public school education and I do believe in a public school education. And as governor of the state of Minnesota, our constitution says, we will provide a k through 12 educational system and make it the best. We possibly can and as I Look To The Future here in the state of Minnesota. I think our Public Schools can be better. There's no doubt about it. I think our public schools have slipped some in the last few years and I'm very disturbed over the fact that rather than making our Public School stronger and therefore every child to get an education many many parents. I think seem to be abandoning the system they seem to want to run away from it, and I'm not the Find a person that runs away from a problem. I'm not the kind of person that runs away when I'm asked to face up to a problem. My father was a World War II veteran seven bronze Battle Stars in Europe. My mother was a nurse a lieutenant in the Army served in North Africa during World War. I myself am a Vietnam veteran of the Navy and so is my brother Jan a Vietnam veteran from the Navy. So as you can see, we don't run from problems when our country calls we respond and that's what I feel the need is of why I'm running for governor right now because it's time to respond to the call of Minnesota again. And I'm responding to that call because I'm very concerned over how our money is being spent in the state of Minnesota education, of course being a big part of that but also the fact that we are so highly overtaxed are in the state of Minnesota. It was proven by the four billion dollar Surplus. That was so spent so easily by Democrats and Republicans. They jumped in there, you know, it's one thing for them to budget and stand on a budget that that's what they're going to operate the government on but when a surplus comes above and beyond that budget, I believe that Surplus should go back to the people. It's no different than a an electric bill if the electric company overcharges you they don't get to keep that overcharging do they it has to come back to you and I believe that very strongly and not only did what did they not stop there. They then soft it to bond the state of Minnesota after a record-setting surplus. Now, you have a record-setting bonding. Bill in the same year that's credit card debt to put it very plainly that's bonding our children and generations to come to pay the bill for us. Now why is that happening? I guess because government feels the need to grow grow and grow Beyond its means but let's get back to education and where Jesse Ventura stands on the education issues. I think the biggest thing facing K through 12 public education in the state of Minnesota right now in class sizes. We need to get that teacher ratio with students down to 17 to one that the law says, it'll be I don't know how many of you are aware of it. But there's a law out there that says that's what it's supposed to be and it's not being followed in the last four or five years almost four hundred million dollars has been sent out to local school districts. Under that law the premise of that law to get a 17 to 1 ratio and it's not happening. There's loopholes in the law loopholes from our career politicians in our legislators, which they commonly do so that they can do something and do another and you know create a little shell game going on with what's really happening with the money and that's going to be a priority of mine when I become governor is the fact of shore up these loopholes to ensure that the money that's being sent out to lower those class sizes is doing exactly that now is Mara Brooklyn Park Minnesota, you don't really deal in education the whole marriage don't do that marriage DeLand crime marriage, DeLand property taxes and taxes and that things of such but they don't deal with education. That's another form of government. So I knew I needed to get someone from education and I did just that if you look at my running mate, and I'll ask her to stand for a moment may Shunk. She is a 40-year teacher. She isn't able. May is not able to go out campaigning with me as much as she'd like to like the career politicians there. They enable themselves to go out on that campaign Trail on our dollar. They're supposed to be doing one job that they've been elected to do but in in their careers, they're allowed to go out and campaign for a higher office and we pay them to do that will make can always join me. Why because she's teaching children Monday through Friday. She's doing the job. She's done for 40 years. And may will be in charge of Education in the Ventura Administration. I do not want. Unarmed police lieutenant governor. I want a lieutenant governor that has a purpose and education will be maze purpose and she will do an outstanding job because Jesse Ventura and me Shankar going to go out to every school district in the state of Minnesota. We're going to ensure that is 17 to 1 ratio is being applied. Like it's supposed to be and second of all we're going to bring back parents into the loop because you cannot have a successful public school system without good teachers kids that want to learn and parent involvement and what has caused in my opinion the lack of parent involvement. Busing an open enrollment you now have kids getting sent all around town Here There and Everywhere and there is no longer the school the high school being the focal point of the neighborhood when I grew up in South Minneapolis everything centered around Roosevelt High School in our neighborhood you had strong ptas you had tremendous parent involvement neighborhood involvement business involvement because the school led the way of being the focal point of that community and I want to get back to those values again. I want to get back to allowing parents to be involved so that they don't have to travel 45 minutes across town one way. And then 45 minutes home all the while if it's a two-parent family Chances Are One parents working to support the family the other parents working to support the government. That's the way it works today. Well, we have to get government back on course. We have to get government back doing what it's supposed to be doing in one of those things as education and the end. That's what me and I will focus on very strong taxes and education and getting government back to doing what it's supposed to be doing instead of branching out into everything. You know, it's been a remarkable summer. I debated probably 20 debates in front of every special interest group this summer and inevitably outcomes the hand what's government going to do for me? We have to remember something government does not create $1 of money government does not do that government merely redistributes money and the chances are of government is involved. They take $2 from the person they give someone a dollar and they keep a dollar for themselves. That's how it kind of works. And that's why I think the inherent problem today is we are Minnesota no longer land of 10000 Lakes where land of 10000 taxes. And by lowering those taxes getting government and you can't lower taxes and less you lower the size of government government is like an internal combustion engine the larger government grows. The more gasoline or money is required to fuel it and who provides that fuel we do the taxpayers not the government so that that's inherently what what we're facing you, you know, what is government's role and I believe government's role is education. I believe a priority is made the education and I believe Jesse Ventura showing what kind of priorities made it by the selection of who I chose as my running mate. Someone who knows education who's been down in the trenches doing it. Not a bureaucrat upstairs not mandates coming down. This is the person that receives those mandates if we look to higher education for a moment. I support higher education. Absolutely. That's our future higher education, but we have to focus on K through 12 first because if we don't get those kids educated, how will they get to higher education? How will they be inspired to go on to higher education and the key is getting them kindergarten through 3rd grade by first grade making sure every child can read write and do arithmetic. It's that simple and you accomplish that by smaller class sizes so that those good teachers out there can do the job. They're supposed to do with 17 kids as opposed to some * 28 in a class then kids fall through the cracks. That's what happens. What would we do with higher education? We have to make our public higher education competitive. We have to make it competitive. We have to make it a desirable place for people to teach because certainly many many professors can probably get a lot more money out in the private sector they can probably earn more out there. So we have to make it a competitive a good place for them where they can feel good about what they're doing the society and carry that on we can do that by helping to improve some of the buildings. You know, I think as a government we've let a lot of the buildings relax a little bit. They're wearing out there breaking down a little bit and this doesn't mean we have to go out and build new ones. This means be prudent. If a building can be repaired and improved and done cheaper. That way we should look at doing it that way not only if creates a great history for those universities to have I think sometimes older buildings and what we don't need to be doing is spending our money on new sports facilities. We don't need to be spending money on a new Twins stadium. That building is only 16 years old. Imagine if we started replacing schools when they were only 16 years of age. When you look at it, that's new when you talk about buildings being only 16 years old besides. I didn't hear any complaints in 87 or 91 when we were winning the World Championship. You didn't hear any problems about it. Then we have our priorities as government and we need to set them straight and remember I come from the world of professional Athletics. But even I know what's ridiculous, even I know that when moldvan been turned down 34 million dollars for four years because it's not enough. I can't look into the face of the average taxpayer and say build Mullen new stadium. So he has a place to play. No, we need to focus on what government needs to focus on education transportation and things of a light that affect every each and everyone of us no matter how rich or how poor you are and that's what the you-know-what and then I want to talk to you for a moment because I need to do this. I need to educate believe it or not the United States of America again because we seem to not be paying attention to history. We really do cuz you're being sold a bill of goods that a vote for Jesse Ventura is a vote for someone else or to vote against someone else. And I want to remind people of this. What is a wasted vote. What is your definition of what you consider a wasted vote? Well, Tamia wasted vote is not voting your heart or your conscience. That's a wasted vote. If it comes down to polls will then why not just take a poll and not have an election squatting take a random poll ever win goes into office. How ridiculous that would be right? Let's look back if we will in history a little bit if I can take you back for a moment a hundred fifty years ago a hundred and fifty years ago in the United States of America. There was a third party candidate in imagine if the mindset that you here today had applied a hundred fifty years ago Abraham Lincoln would have never been our president. Because Abraham Lincoln was a third-party candidate Abraham Lincoln was part of this new party. That was just coming in to play called the Republicans how quickly they forgotten. How quickly they're not paying attention to history and you know, what even the bigger point to that is this we were offered three candidates 150 years ago. And yet today we should only have two how large is our population growing since then a hundred and fifty years ago. So I want you to think about that when you go out to vote. I want you to think about 2 to 3 prong check and balance system that our government is formed upon judicial executive and legislative. It seems to me common sense and logic which sometimes is an oxymoron when dealing with government. It seems to me that they had executive should come from the private sector for a change so you can really see that three prong check and balance why I don't come with an agenda. There is no Pac money with Jesse Ventura. I looked interesting Lee in the paper today. We were those lawyers like to give to the two lawyers. Don't they? Let's remember Jesse's the only candidate who was not a lawyer and I think that's good. because and I'll finish up quickly because notice the two lawyers that brought in more lawyers now, and now our election is turning into a battle of lawyers instead of a battle of who's going to get who's going to get the most votes and get elected out there to carry on with a good agenda for Minnesota. Remember this when a bill comes to Jesse Ventura as desk as Governor, it doesn't matter if it's originated from the Republicans or the Democrats if it's good for Minnesota. I'll sign it if it's bad for Minnesota RV toilet and let's all remember my final words. There's more minnesotans. Then there are Democrats and Republicans. Thank you. Thank you very much. Must have been to her right now. I will call me or Coleman to the podium. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Papish. It is a great pleasure to be here University of st. Thomas father decent and I will know what that dr. Papish comes to us as a former president of st. Catherine's in St. Paul St. Paul has the highest concentration of post-secondary institutions in the country. I think outside of Boston the Raleigh-Durham triangle. We may have the third highest concentration hear higher education is part of the lifeblood of this community as it is by the way to travel around the state places like Marcia what Southwest State University as with energy Mankato, these institutions are part of the future their part of what makes the community special they important to all of us as we discuss education policy tonight. We should take Stephen covey's advice when he wrote that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing the main thing and education policy is kids not how much money we spend and how complex are programs and formulas are not how much Location gobbledygook, we can recite it's about kids what they need to be their best. I have an image in my mind that probably almost every parent remember is it's my son Jacob 11 years ago when he was almost 1 and he was learning to walk. He look like he was an extra in Braveheart kind of bouncing off a table here and hitting the floor there, but he had that excited look in his eye. He was going to figure out this walking thing at all costs regardless of life or limb. He knew no failure. He was motivated to learn. That's the Nate passion that is in all kids. We need to be worthy of this special spark of desire to learn in all our kids. We need to live up to it as we try to provide an education system that serves every kid that leaves. No kids Behind not a single one. The first thing we need to do is educate our kids to something foundational. We got to keep coming back to this again. And again the key to everything we do in government regardless of the issue area that we are discussing is to create an economic climate. That is healthy growing and dynamic good jobs for Mom or Dad's to help their kids learn successful companies to provide jobs for graduates. A growing economic pie is the easiest way to make the lodge personal and government allocation of resources for Education everywhere. I go whether I'm talking to Farmers the teachers are small business people. They gave me the same message mayor don't tax us to death don't regulate us to death. Give us the freedom to succeed and we will do the rest there. Right if we trust parents and teachers and principals instead of bureaucrats programs and Association. They will get the job done. My phone at the attorney general has a promise of a government program for every human need. I cannot match that his motivations are noble but they really hold out false. Hope it's tax and spend and regulate policies will undermine the foundation that is trying to build on. You heard I stayed a kind of a drive away jobs and reduce the pool of resources available to families and to government and in the long run. These policies will make it harder to do all the things we need to do to educate our kids. And we need to commit ourselves to educational Innovation kids share a common passion to learn but every kid is different. We need to provide an education system with enough variety of options. So that every kid can find a place where they can learn not a one-size-fits-all approach under Republican and dfl governors. Minnesota has experienced two decades of educational Innovation and our kids have benefited open enrollment now used by Twenty Thousand kids post-secondary options use my 7000 kids charter schools with 3,200 Minnesota kids. Go to groundbreaking new schools thousands of kids benefit from the fact that their moms and dads take advantage of educational tax credits and deductions. These are exciting developments in a drawing national attention. What is most exciting that these Innovations are growing at our kids point of need they serving the population of kids whose test scores have been the lowest whose basic skills need the most work with Innovation. We are literally Reinventing school to fix our educational problems. Now while I at the city level in my running mate jentleson University of PhD University of Minnesota spent a career working in education has been been an author of the education reforms everything from charter school. So tax credit deductions a home schools while we have been at the at the involved in these education Innovation understand the importance of Primo team and and the dfl establishment is forth these for so many years under Democratic governor Rudy perpich Fort Myers on party educational Innovation post-secondary options in charter schools tax credits and deductions for it and still today being Ford again. We chat with what we need is innovation. This is what every kid needs and this is what we can and will deliver as I turn to five specific questions, which have been laid out for us, which I will address. Let me deal with with 2 Boogeyman consistently raised by my opponent first. There is no school voucher plan on the table in this election. I have not initiated one or is a legislature going to put one on the next Governor's desk. We have moved past that question in Minnesota. We don't need a lawyer against hunting carrier pigeons in Minnesota because there aren't any and we don't need to spend time to baiting a voucher plan. That isn't going to happen second. I support for funding for public education Minnesota as 6 billion dollars legislature has approved this biennium. I support the same amount in the next biennium plus some more generous inflation adjustment that is in the Attorney General's plan. I do not have not and will not support siphoning off public school funding for private schools. Funds for tax credits and deductions are available to all parents and are an additional commitment above and beyond public school funding if adding additional fund if adding additional funding to that is a threat to public education then so is spending money on light rail or reducing crime was supporting Farmers educational leadership in the governor's office. I am committed to the task of mobilizing all of Minnesota to the challenge of educating our kids. We need to bring every resource an institution and social asset of this state to the table to support the education of our kids business labor Community organizations of Faith Community Foundation media professional sports the art community. We need all hands on deck. Predication as I have demonstrated in st. Paul I can cast a vision for common sense Minnesota schools at work for all our kids. I can create a thriving economic environment that supports educational investment. I can bring people together and then together we can innovate and we can get the job done for our kids. Now. Let me turn to your five specific questions their number of critical issues facing public education in Minnesota in my view the three most important off first full funding of public education. They said before I support the 7.6 billion dollars provided by the legislature for this biennium plus a proper inflation the Judgment for the next biennium. We need to make sure education funding is both adequate and equitably distributed across a 351 districts check-in is a commitment to Innovation as a critical issue. We need to stay on the path of Education established by Rudy perpich and Arne Carlson to provide expanding education options for all. So the kids there can be no retreat on educational Innovation and third we need to focus on creating classrooms that are safe and orderly respectful and properly size too loud maximum earning zero tolerance for gangs drugs and violence in our schools. Let's spend the 280 $1000000 the legislature provided for smaller class size on smaller class size. Let's get disrupted kids out of the classroom and give teachers to respect and freedom. They need to teach Let me move on if I made it the second issue if we could change one thing about Minnesota public education. It would be this that we couldn't still a commitment to Common Sense in Minnesota schools at work. Let me lay out the elements of Common Sense schools in Minnesota as I Envision them and I organized them around an acronym parents something easy to remember something at the core at the really core vegetation its parents moms and dads being involved P for Parental and Community involvement move decisions closer to home with expanded choice and reduce mandates from State and District bureaucracies any for accountability high standards? No, social promotion Statewide graduation, testing and rewarding Excellence students teachers and schools in writing and rithmetic the basics real Basics come before everything leaving at leaving education value socialization and other skills to home. Environment for learning classrooms with your safe orderly discipline respectful of authority free from disruptive students and with proper class size and for neighborhood schools parents can't be involved local truck and died at work kids. Don't learn if the school is not the heart of the neighborhood T teacher support get bureaucrats off their backs. Give Merit Aid to the best teachers free them from endless paperwork and let them fulfill their passion which is to teach as Governor. I would strive to create that kind of Common Sense Minnesota school. Your third question is a great question. What ideas do we have on public-private Partnerships in education? This gets back to my earlier point a healthy economy in good education. I like two hands washing each other a healthy economy provides resources jobs progress in a sense of hope and optimism that lifts our kids our families and our schools. Education provide skill work as leaders in technological innovation that can create a whole new way of doing things everyone from Minnesota Family Pharmacy huge corporations, like 3 on the Medtronic have benefited from the research coming out of the University of Minnesota and the private sector as made sizable contribution to Minnesota educational levels. Let's do more in both directions are very excited about a number of ongoing initiatives by the private sector program by the international rotary strive program, which integrates mentoring summer jobs and college scholarships the partnership between the printing industry in Dunwoody Institute to train future workers focus on specific job needs the partnership between the Ford plant and Saint Paul Technical College to train workers in robotics. I hope we can also encourage schools to reach out to the business Community employee is in a way of customers at schools. They buy what schools produce educated people employees have a lot to contribute to defining School standards in education. What is bring them together and Saint Paul government? I've tried to instill the idea that Partnerships R Us. That's where about the capital city Partnership Achievement Plus app on ship during the city while the foundation the county the school district the Saint Paul Riverfront cooperation Waterfront development, you-name-it public-private Partnerships of our part of everything. We've done to revitalize Saint Paul. I believe in Partnerships because I Forge them and I know they can work as Governor to bring the same passion for Partnerships to improve education for Minnesota kids the next closest public education funding and I think it is important to say that the outset that this question that is far more important where the money ends up there where it comes from you got a situation like a boy fetching water from a stream with a leaky bucket. He loses a lot of water during the trip in Minnesota. There is a whole lot of money spill between the taxpayer in the classroom. I'll be your accuracy and philosophical Godly. Regardless of the financing support we need to make sure that more money ends up in the classroom where education happens in the in the context of a broad overview of the state budget. Let me say this but anybody of office simplistic Solutions of saying what we can do with property tax funding in school to act and in school funding is offering you a a quick fix solution that simply isn't there. They're offering you something that isn't there today. I need the sound three words of caution here first moist a funding with more say control of local education districts would represent a net loss to a public education system. We need to keep control local and DM precise bureaucratic decision-making secondly when this has been done in the past results from taxpayers have been mix and send it in some Districts The Savings from greater State funding have not been passed on to the taxpayers. So they end up paying twice level property taxes were both local property taxes in highest state taxes. We need to lower taxes across The board across the board at the capacity ability to do more with less. I would be concerned about shifting education to my cyclical funding source. I don't want edger economic upturn sand down turns to affect education funding. We need a constant commitment to Excellence in education and good times and bad on the issue of teacher testing. I need I think we need to balance two values. Why do we need to respect and support professionals who have devoted their lives to this crucial task when they could beat make more money doing less work and jobs that contribute for Alaska Society. We need to respect the work that I teach his due to we need to be accountable to the taxpayer in the kids so that they are that they are receiving instruction from qualified people. Our current system works deals pretty well with half of the issue teacher testing for licensure is an important measure of competence continuing education requirements for teachers also assures us that they are keeping their skills up-to-date and approving the knowledge base, but I would go a step further I went to Italy Play control Merit pay for teachers. We improve the quality of teaching in Minnesota by rewarding excellence in the teaching profession nowhere else, but in public education and government do we fail to reward Excellence with predictable results license insurer and continuing education maintains an adequate for a teacher competency Merit pay will raise the roof and closing. Let me end where I began with the kids. Somewhere in this very day, but tonight little girls being read a story and being tucked into bed as we meet. We'll probably head a major corporation that provides jobs and products and economic growth the minnesotans in the year 2040 young boy in truxton working on his science project tonight be the physician who greets one of us in emergency, Minnesota a couple of decades tonight. When we arrive after a heart attack among teenagers doing research on the internet that will be the German of idea that shows us all the way to communicate and work together across cultural barriers the graduate student at the University of Minnesota's burning the midnight oil tonight doing the rigorous scientific testing necessary to create a new brain hybrid that would fit feed Millions. We need them to build Minnesota's best future. They need us to provide the best education possible that will require a healthy economy that will require a commitment to Innovation and education that will require a leadership providing the resources necessary. Creating Common Sense schools that work forging public-private Partnerships. That's the kind of leadership and commitment that I've demonstrated in St. Paul and I will bring to the education of all kids as our governor. Thank you. Thank you very much. Miracleman. And now I will call Attorney General Humphrey to the podium. Father DS and dr. Papish to all of you. It's so good to be back here. I remember I think about a year ago. Plus I was sitting at a Podium here had a form and it was a good discussion and I just appreciate the opportunity to be back particularly at the request of AAUW. What a wonderful organization what noble goals and what hard work to reach those goals has been done and I thank you for this opportunity to invite me to speak on what is truly the centerpiece of my campaign for governor. If you don't get anything else out of Humphreys campaign. I hope you get that first and foremost, its education. It is the education of our children. It is the re-education of ourselves. It is the ability to invest ourselves not only in who we are but what we can become that is what this is all about. The challenge for us is to see that all students are winners. I've been at forms before where others have said really the key goal here is competition. And I have to tell you this I'm big on competition. I really like what happened a couple of that last weekend with the Vikings and the Packers winners and losers are fine. But when it comes to education we cannot as a society accept winners and losers we must have winners and winners. How do we do then? We do that by making sure that there's not competition necessarily sure. We have a choice. We must have choice and I'll speak about that mon, but we need to work through collaboration. Partnership Community Family and the to work with the unique god-given talents of each student together to see that we succeed. And if we want to see that we have a world-class Workforce. It is ready to compete in the 21st century in the marketplace of Tomorrow. We must invest in our children and our Public Schools. Are public schools are the fundamental building blocks upon which we create a better society and a growing economy for Minnesota. I checked the other day. I think in my own and my own family, we've got almost 50 years of public education behind us and it served us very well. I'd like to begin tonight with a quote from our US Secretary of Education Richard Riley who was here just with us this weekend in one of the elementary schools in Minneapolis. Mr. Riley said while our children may be only 20% of our population. They are 100% of our future and I know you've heard that before but if you think about it only 20% of our population, but it's 100% of tomorrow. That's why keeping Minnesota's commitment to education must be our top priority. In order to do this Minnesota in order for Minnesota to compete in our global economy. We must equip our students with the tools that they need to succeed. Well taught basic skills modern textbooks laptop computers, of course and smaller class sizes and more teachers in the classroom. These are basic tools that are absolutely critical for tomorrow and we must demand high standards and accountability from parents teachers and students. I apply this kind of test ABC. I don't think you have to go much further in the in the alphabet accountability teaching the basics and the basics now have to include something more than just reading writing and arithmetic needs to be working together in groups successful communication skills and making certain that we know the technology. Those are at least the fundamental basics of what we must see beyond Reading Writing and arithmetic. If I could change one thing about public education and that's one of the questions that was asked it would be to redefine what we mean by public education. I don't think K12 cuts it anymore Nation. It does not reflect the importance of early childhood education and good parenting skills. Nor does it recognize the critical importance of post-secondary education and providing our quality Workforce folks. We start too late for too many kids. We need to help our families and need to help our children in the earliest years. I don't want to have to hear again time and time again with kindergarten teachers at say yeah. Well, I'm already working to try and work on some problems that kids have as they come to kindergarten. We must start in those early years and that is very important. We must ensure the kids are already learning when they enter kindergarten and that they get post-secondary education necessary to succeed in tomorrow's Global Marketplace. So I call these kind of Bookends of our education system on the front end the hump primoplan and this is with my friend and colleague and lieutenant governor candidate Rodger moute. It includes more quality learning experiences for kids younger than 5 for some families that learning can come from a mom or dad of course was able to stay at home and help their toddlers develop. These are critical early years and that's where good parenting skills come in and we need to support parents and gaining those skills as well for others though. It means a quality learning face Child Care Program to help Working Families achieve that goal in my balanced budget plan. I am proposing a substantial broadening of our child care tax credit targeted towards Working Families. That means families earning up to $120,000 per year would be eligible for a per child credit of up to $1,000 for up to two children in a family. I am also committed to invest in the area where we know we get the biggest bang for our buck investments in our youngest Learners age 0 to 5. And that's why the Humphrey Mobile plan meets Minnesota's commitments to these early children with Investments to help local communities with Early Childhood family education parent training Head Start and Early Head Start now the other book and that I've talked about I have a plan to make higher education more accessible and affordable because study after study has shown that post-secondary education is key to higher incomes. I propose a higher education tax-credit that when combined with a new federal tax credit gives a needy students or their families are credit equal to the tuition at a state 2-year college or about $2,500 a year. This credit will be available to families making up to $80,000 a year. We should not have economic barriers in front of young people that are well qualified to come to this institution or any other institution of Higher Learning. Let me conclude and show you that my remarks in this area by saying that a redefinition of public education is not just more programs did indeed. It is not at all. It's using tax credit incentives to help families meet their own educational needs in the order of in order for our school to succeed. Of course, we have to address critical issues facing our K-12 education systems and let me just to outline them briefly to you our first challenge far too many of our children come to school not ready to learn which leads to large numbers of at-risk kids into few teachers to help them learn. So too many students have problems at home unstable families and too many students start school behind their peers Peak. They did not have Early Education opportunities and instead we removed along from grade to grade when they did not in fact make the grape and many students are new to this country and have difficulty in learning in the Traditional School environment. So we need to address that the more our teachers focus on these at-risk kids and less time. They have to spend on other students Humphrey Automotive ministration, we propose to invest in local school districts and give them greater choice and how they will help every student achieve higher standards. Our Second Challenge far too. Many of our kids leave Kate the K-12 system not ready to work. Good paying jobs available to Minnesota in Minnesota require skills that many are Barre High School grads. Just don't have we do not do enough to prepare our graduates for the world of work and we are not going to do enough if we just move them on into higher education without making sure they have the skills before they leave. And I'm Primo Administration. We will help prepare students for the 21st century workplace by removing economic barriers to higher education with tuition tax credits for families struggling to send their kids to college Arthur challenge is this we do not have enough accountability within our K-12 system. We must tie resources to the outcomes bottom line. It's your tax dollars. You ought to know you're getting a better deal and the performance of the student ought to go up and they deserve that are new grad rule standards will help but we should do more to hold all of us teachers and parents and students elected officials to higher standards of achievement. But to be successful we must listen closely to those who are on the front lines of education at the local level our parents and our teachers for how to best implement the grad rule out to standards that I've proposed every child should be reading by the end of the second grade. And there should be more no more social promotion. Now in our higher education system, we also face great challenges. We make it too hard for many of our high school grads to go on to post-secondary education. And that's why I proposed those tax credits and if they don't have those resources guess what happens if they try to go the students when they do finish college did they and their families are frequently indebted with crushing debt loads, the higher education needs to redefine itself more broadly, too often. We tend to think it's only the baccalaureate degree will many other types of post-secondary Education are readily available technical education certificate programs workplace internships. All of these need to be available and funding for higher education is in a turmoil. We do not have a consistent philosophy of how we pay post-secondary education. How much should we depend on our parents and student paying tuition? What is the balance there? How much should the legislature appropriate how much should we encourage? Employers to pay for training and retraining of their workers know all three of these have a role to play in funding are higher education and we must work together to develop what that balance is as Governor. I will work with our higher education systems both public and private to make certain that Minnesota remains a national leader in higher education beyond that. I will work to create the kind of Partnerships between business and labor and education. This is a unique time in our state. We're all three come together labor and business are unanimous and the education Community unanimous that we must join together to see that we have the highest trained highest educated individuals to create that kind of Workforce. That's critical. So, how do we do that? First? Let me know about some examples and you heard some already the skills for tomorrow Charter School in Minneapolis, which was formed and a partnership between Minnesota teamsters and the Business Partnership the Dunwoody Institute has already been Referred to hundreds of customized training programs between individual businesses and our state's Pine technical schools School of Business partnering and mentoring programs underway in virtually all of the Minneapolis public schools and outstanding programs that this institution has st. Thomas which has helped Hispanic students in the metro area and initiatives of the Management Center at your Minneapolis campus to partner with businesses for Advance employee training and there are hundreds of smaller, but effective activities where employers encourage workers to visit local classroom. These are the kind of Partnerships. We need to continue to expand and use now in my budget. I have also proposed to wave to help employers retrain and deal with the cost of retraining of their workers every employer on a budget who sends an employee back to a Minnesota higher education Institution. For more training would be eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,000 per employee over 2 years. This is an example of my commitment. I think to the partnership. Our state must keep its commitment to public education by taking a greater share of the funding because more than 90% of all students. Harvard received their education are public schools. So I strongly support increasing State support for Education funding and reducing the Reliance on the property tax. I applaud the legislature for increasing the state funding of Education in recent years and my balanced budget will continue that Trend. I believe that our goal should be 70% State funding in our proposed budget moves us to 69% by the year 2001 and if the budget permits we will see 70% by 2003 course the net result of this change will be to reduce the local property tax burden by about a hundred million dollars in the upcoming budget. So you get basically two winds are teachers and schools will become will come to rely on a more stable and Equitable State funding system and are property taxes will be reduced. Now finally, we must keep our commitment to our children by assuring that we have the most competent best trained teachers pre-k through post-secondary. We are blessed with many of the nation's most dedicated and qualified and skilled teachers. I want to see that continue and I want to see all of the the commitments and the certificate Asians continue to be enhanced. I have a five-point strategy to further improve our work force or teacher Workforce first a huge number of our teachers will be retiring some estimates some estimate that we will lose up to half of our current teachers in the next 10 years. And so therefore we must encourage our best and brightest young people to enter their profession and we need to start that very early in the junior high in the middle school right up in the high school and then on into college secondly, we must encourage teachers to grow in their profession. There's a new national teacher Master certification program. We should encourage teachers to become involved in that and become Qualified 3rd. We must keep teacher salaries competitive so that we keep the best and the brightest teachers of our children are the most important people we can think about other than our own parents and they need to be rewarded for their critical and successful work 4th. We should encourage school districts and teachers union to negotiate incentive pay plans that reward teachers for performance including when their students meet or exceed State and District standard on my budget. I've set aside dollars to help pay for these incentives for those districts was teachers agree with that kind of a plant and finally we must have in place a system to identify and retrain teachers who may not be making the grade. We should do everything possible to Mentor them so that some schools district will continue to see the Excellence of school. I know I'm running short and I see that I just think that I want you to know. The critical some people have said that there are things being talked about that are old-fashioned. I guarantee you education and public education is old-fashioned but it is the right thing. It has brought us to where we are and it is going to take us where we are going. We must see that it is in the best possible shape for the future. Thank you very much. You're listening to a broadcast of last night's Forum on education featuring the three major party candidates for Governor The Forum held at the University of st. Thomas was sponsored by the American Association of University women now following those opening statements. The candidates took some questions from the audience at The Forum and we'll get to those questions and just a moment here in our midday program reminder that programming and NPR is supported by Metropolitan State University a comprehensive Urban University with exceptional teachers. Like dr. Nancy J. Black Minnesota professor of the year. On the next All Things Considered is employment to measure of welfare reform success something. So but critics a former recipients are treading water in dead-end jobs. It's all things considered weekdays at 3 on Minnesota Public Radio know FM 91.1 You're listening to Minnesota Public Radio. We have a cloudy Sky 45°. I've Contra W FM 91.1 Minneapolis. And st. Paul. It's going to be cloudy windy and cool all afternoon temperature remaining about where it is with Dusty Northwest with decreasing Cardinals tonight with a low in the low 30s partly cloudy tomorrow with a high in the low in mid 50s.