LEADERSHIP ALUMS SPEAK FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

Alumni of a group within the Brainerd Chamber called Leadership in the Lakes have voiced their support of public education, specifically the levy increases in Brainerd and Crosby Ironton. Andrea Holmes manages Associates in Eyecare. She believes public education is a vital part of the communities in both cities. Holmes said public education "is so important in that if I don't feel like I can pay for my child's education, my community steps up to pay for it." She said she "can't step away from the pool of children that has to be taken care of by all of us, that the minimum necessary for her own children, is necessary for all children." Holmes said she has some control of that in the public domain but no control of it in the private domain. Voters in Crosby Ironton and Brainerd and 99 other Minnesota schools will decide levy referendum questions next Tuesday.