eVoter Profile of Laura Jean Palmer Candidate 2010 Minnesota General Election

It really is, all about the kids, their families and our community.

A strong public school system that maintains high standards, and fiscal discipline is of the utmost importance!

There are some wonderful things happening in our district. Central Middle School will begin its transformation. Our budget is in balance, at this time. As well as several very successful courses in Engineering, Robotics and our new Black Box Theater. Yet, I am concerned.

I became a candidate because I had many questions that needed answering:

• Why do public schools cost SO much more than private ones?
• Why, despite the extra resources are many students not learning as they should?
• Do programs that are designed to assist "at risk students" actually work? How can they be made better?
• How is the School Board "measuring" the cost/benefit of programs?
• Is high school curriculum primarily geared toward those who are college bound? (what about the students that are more apt for the trades?)
• Why, despite the enormous resources given to schools has the drop-out rate remained unchanged for the last forty years?
• Why, given our social/economical diversity do our students graduate at a greater rate than other districts that have a similar student body? What are we doing right?
• How can the school board communicate more effectively with the community?

These questions, and many others, deserve thoughtful and comprehensive answers so that any weaknesses in our schools can be addressed and corrected.

A brief Bio about myself: I have lived in Columbia Heights since 1992. My husband’s name is Craig and we have four children, ranging in ages from 3 to 26. We are also extremely blessed to have four grandchildren. I have worked primarily in retail, and have held management positions at Kmart, Old America and Michael's Arts & Crafts. With the arrival of my two youngest children, I chose to work part-time and am currently employed as RES lead at Kmart and certified framer at Michael's.