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  • Democrat Margaret Kelliher, candidate for governor of Minnesota, discusses issues in Mankato. At right is Gwen Walz. Robb Murray

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July 6, 2010

Kelliher discusses issues in Mankato over coffee

By Robb Murray The Free Press

MANKATO — When gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher sat down for coffee at the Fillin’ Station Coffeehouse Tuesday to discuss education, it was like old friends gathering for a cuppa joe.

On one side of the table sat Jane Schostag, one of the candidate’s teachers during her K-12 years in Mankato. On the other side sat Gwen Walz, a former college buddy from the candidate’s days at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Throw in a few other friendly faces from around the region — Kelly Peterson and Joan Christensen from the Mankato area, and Charlie Zea of Madelia — and the table was set for a cordial hour of talking about the children.

Education was the purpose of Kelliher’s visit. Kelliher, the Democratic Party’s official candidate, must get through the primary election Aug. 10. The winner goes on to face Republican Tom Emmer in the general election Nov. 2. Visits such as this increase her visibility among the electorate and allow potential voters to give her feedback on various issues.

The Mankato region seems to be a natural place for Kelliher to discuss education. Much of hers occurred here.

“Because of my great public education in Mankato,” she told the small gathering, “I am where I am today.”

Kelliher attended Charlie Brown Nursery School, then Hoover Elementary. After graduating from Mankato West, she attended Gustavus Adolphus College.

Much of the meeting, dubbed and “education roundtable,” focused on accountability in education. Gwen Walz, wife of First District Congressman Tim Walz, works for the Mankato school district. She’ll spend her summer analyzing the recently released MCA test results. MCAs are just one of the methods school districts use to evaluate student performance.

Walz suggested a system where all involved come together for the good of the children, instead of various agencies fighting for funding and having divergent interests.

She also decried the situation many districts find themselves in as they make major decisions about what to cut next — some districts are cutting staff, others are cutting entire schools from their budgets, and some are considering shortening the school week.

“We are way beyond trimming the fat,” she told Kelliher.

Kelliher, meanwhile, said she understands the plight school districts are in and she’ll try to bring to the governor’s office a more compassionate approach than what she’s seen from Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

She also said the state needs to “think bigger” when it comes to evaluating students.

“Accountability is here to stay,” she said. “But let’s do it the Minnesota way.”

She said Minnesota needs to live up to its reputation as the education state and start funding it better and come up with better ways to measure student growth.

Charlie Zea of Madelia said there needs to be a better way to fund education, and that the current property-tax based system — bolstered by voter-approved extra income — isn’t working.

“Just moving from one referendum to the next,” he said, “we’ve got to get away from that.”

Kelliher agreed, and said a better system would be one that treated every child in the state fairly. She told Zea to keep a watch out for news on that topic later in the campaign.

Kelly Peterson said she hopes to see more support for the arts, and Kelliher, a participant in various theater productions during her days at West, agreed.

“If it weren’t for the arts,” she told Peterson, “I’m not sure I would have made it through high school as well.”

 

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