Letters to the editor for Monday, Oct. 20

Voters in Minneapolis should know these facts as they decide whether to vote for or against a $60 million increase for our public school system Nov. 4.

•Total enrollment last year was 33,600 students. Total enrollment this year is 32,500. Projected enrollment next year will be under 32,000.

•Total budget last year was over $654 million. Dividing that by the number of students equals more than $19,000 per student per year!

As we know, a quality education is one of the most important gifts a society can give to all its kids, and a cornerstone for the future for all of us as well.

In economics classes, we are taught of the law of diminishing returns. Twenty grand a year is a case in point.

DAN ROMIG, MINNEAPOLIS

Erik Paulsen advocates for reforms that lower the cost of health care. Addressing the growing cost of coverage is crucial to being able to provide more Minnesotans with affordable, high-quality care.

Investment in these types of reforms will help control costs, improve care and expand access to coverage. Erik Paulsen supports a realistic solution to our health-care challenges. This insight is an example of his commitment to solving the issues that matter most to Minnesotans and is the reason why we need him in Congress.

STEPHANIE KENT, MINNEAPOLIS

As Erik Paulsen seeks to bathe in Jim Ramstad's shadow on a billboard, Paulsen's own shadow recedes into the darkness of his record.

The mismatch is striking. Ramstad reached across the aisle to author moderate, common-sense congressional legislation. In contrast, Paulsen, as majority leader of the Minnesota House in 2005, promoted a conservative agenda rife with wedge issues and petty, small-minded parochialism that ultimately turned the lights out in the state Legislature.

Voters must not and cannot forget the results of Paulsen's divisive agenda. This is not the leadership that Minnesota needs. I challenge Paulsen to stand on his own record and stop lurking in the shadow of a true moderate like Jim Ramstad.

The current debates and associated punditry highlight a curious dichotomy between Democrats and Republicans when the subject is energy. First, Dems place heavy emphasis on conservation and Repubs do not. One would think that a "conservative" would automatically show some interest in conservation.

Next, Republicans want to "drill, baby, drill," while Democrats want to invest in the development of renewable-energy technology. But it's on the issue of nuclear power where the difference is stark. Republicans call repeatedly for more nuclear power plants to deal with our energy shortage. Roughly a half-century ago, this sentiment was nearly universal. The mantra of the time was "energy too cheap to meter," and the writer of this letter shared that sentiment. (I was a graduate student in nuclear physics at the time.)

But times have changed drastically since then, and the mantra has made a transition to "energy too costly to matter." What happened? Well, it has become evident that waste disposal is an unsolved problem. Further, it may be unsolvable, in which case the cost of nuclear energy is infinite! Hence, Republicans have simply failed to stay informed on the growing understanding of this essentially technical issue. This seeming ignorance of facts is part and parcel of Republican backwardness in technology, as well as their cavalier attitude toward the environment.

RAY WARNER, EDINA

Vote "no" Nov. 4 for the Clean Water, Land Legacy Amendment.

This amendment approach is the least effective, most costly and most difficult to repeal once proven ineffective. Try first to justify a change, then, once the citizenry is aware of a problem, work out a non-turf-protecting method to resolve the challenge. No blank checks for anyone.

LELAND MAGNUSON, SANDSTONE, MINN.

I am supporting David L. Piper for the open seat for judge in Hennepin County.

He has had experience in state and federal criminal courts and juvenile court. Piper has devoted his career to children and their families. He has been the cochair of the bar association's juvenile law committee and was one of the first volunteer lawyers for the Children's Law Center. For the past 10 years, Piper has had judicial experience as a child support officer, mediator and currently a referee in family court hearing cases involving custody of children and marriage dissolutions.

As a colleague of Piper in family court, I can "testify" that he works hard at delivering fair decisions and is always respectful of the citizens who appear before him. His broad experience and judicial tenure make him uniquely qualified to be elected judge.

After watching the debate Wednesday night, I wonder where John McCain -- the one I, even as a Democrat, would have voted for in 2000 -- went. If running for the presidency is a disease, I am saddened to realize that McCain has it.