TO THE EDITOR:

Fifteen years ago, I was hired as the Becker High School Media Specialist, and I knew that I was going to be working in one of the best districts in Minnesota.  I had spent 17 years in a neighboring district, and we had to fight every two years and never got more than a 2% raise, and many times got 0%.  Even though I loved my job and my students, I had two of my own kids in college and needed to think about my family.  So I left.  I loved my time in Becker, and working in the BHS Media Center was my dream job.  In the last few years Becker has created a beautiful campus, which is important to the community, but has lost sight of the most important asset in a school district—highly educated, dedicated, hard-working teachers who feel valued by the administration and by the community.  I would hate to see Becker’s great teachers leaving for neighboring districts, where they will be more respected and better paid.  Even worse, because our students see the lack of respect and lower pay of their teachers, they tell me they wouldn’t even consider becoming teachers themselves.  In other professions where there is a shortage, pay and benefits go up to retain and recruit the best people for the job. This needs to be the case in Becker, if we want to once again be the best. 

Nancy Lorentz

Clear Lake

TO THE EDITOR:

What is a caucus?  In MN, it is the basis of our political party system.  You start by going to your local township or city caucus to advance your candidates and ideas within the structure of your party.  To do this, at the caucus, you run to be a delegate for the senate district (SD) convention, then at the SD, you run to be a delegate for the congressional district (CD) convention, next you run at the CD for the state convention, and finally at the state convention, you run for delegate at the national convention.  This all depends on how far you want to go. At the SD convention, you vote to determine who will be endorsed to be the MN legislative candidates for the next election.  At the CD convention, you vote to determine who will be endorsed to be the congressional candidate.  At the state convention, you vote to determine who will be endorsed to be the candidates for a MN Senator in Washington, D.C., MN Governor, other elected offices at the state level in the next election. At each of the conventions, you will vote on proposed changes to the state platform and party constitution which will determine the party’s priorities for initiating bills in the Legislature and suggesting constitutional changes.

Barry VanBuren 

Clearwater, MN