John Niemi
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.
Hi, I am John Niemi. I have been a resident of Sauk Rapids for the past 20 years. I am the proud father of two amazing children. My daughter, Lauren, is a senior at SRRHS and my son, Eric, is a freshman at SRRHS. My wife, Theresa, is an elementary school teacher in Kimball. I am a 1987 graduate of Saint Cloud State University. I have been employed as a senior level manager at Frigidaire Company (Electrolux), Northern Wire Products, and Homecrest (Wadena). I currently am co-owner of my own small business.
What experience do you have that prepares you for public office?
I am running for the Sauk Rapids-Rice School Board as a concerned and motivated citizen of Sauk Rapids and as a parent of Sauk Rapids-Rice students. My only agenda is to provide the best possible education, both academic and social, for the children of our community. My 20+ years of work experience and training in a manufacturing / engineering environment has prepared me to look at all processes and procedures, identify areas of opportunity, and implement changes. I believe that I can bring productive change to the school district through a fresh set of eyes and an open mind. I have been on the senior level management teams of various companies, both large and small, and have made recommendations and decisions that, although not the most popular, were the "right" decisions to make. I believe that in the current economic downturn, it is critical, extremely critical, to make the "right" decisions for our children, their teachers, and the staff that supports them. I can, and will, make the tough decisions that others would rather "pass" on.
Why you decided to run for this office.
Then one and only reason that I am running for a seat on the school board is that I truly care about the children in our school district. It is the duty, and responsibility of the school administration to provide the best possible learning environment, both academically and socially, for our children. I believe the role of the school board is to set definable, measurable, objective goals for the administration, and then measure their performance based upon these goals. The board then needs to support the administration in achieving these goals by providing the right training, the right tools and the right time to accomplish these goals. It is not the role of the school board to set up the administration team for failure, but rather to do all that can be done to support their success. There are, no doubt, some difficult decisions that will need to be made. I want to be a part of these decisions.
Top three issues you would tackle, if elected.
A) Without a doubt, funding for the school district's budget is the biggest challenge. The taxpayers of our school district entrust the school board and the administration to make fiscally responsible decisions when appropriating spending. It is very easy to spend someone else's money. The budget should reflect a "personal" view, as if we were spending our own money. Are we getting a valued return on our expenditures, or are we just spending for the sake of spending?
The state and federal governments need to take back some of the responsibility in funding so local taxpayers are not burdened with additional expenses. The costs of operating a school district increase every year. This is no different than the costs of providing for your family, at home, only on a much larger scale. The state funding, however, does not increase every year. The funding for the school districts in Minnesota needs to be overhauled at the state legislature. The legislature has mandated programs to be implemented without providing adequate funding needed to implement these programs.
School districts rely on the state and federal governments, and local municipalities for its operating capital. Unlike a private business, our schools are paid by what comes in the door, rather than what goes out the door at the end of the year. If a business needs to generate more operating capital, it hires more workers and produces more saleable goods. Schools cannot "manufacture" more students. They are limited by the number of students enrolled in the district. Therefore, the funding from the state needs to keep pace with the costs of operating the school. I do not believe that the state government is unable to properly fund the school districts in Minnesota. I believe it is a matter of priority. What greater priority is there than to educate the next generation to be productive workers and innovative leaders of tomorrow?
B) Another challenge facing our school district is developing a curriculum that adequately prepares our student to excel at all levels and abilities. Sauk Rapids-Rice has continually been outperformed by neighboring school districts on the MCA and BST math testing. We are at or near the bottom of the list. I have been given many reasons as to why the scores are so low, but to be quite honest, it is what it is. The data from the test scores tells the truth. The standardized tests are given to all public schools statewide, and are the only true "apples to apples" comparison we have. While the high school administration has acknowledged these deficiencies, and has taken steps to improve these scores (creating an advanced Algebra/Geometry class for incoming freshman and other changed in the curriculum), I believe that the entire system needs to be examined and/or completely revised.
C) Thirdly, the student/teacher ratio in the classroom is extremely important. I believe that as class sizes become larger and larger, the quality of education diminishes. It is imperative that we maintain a productive student/teacher ratio in each classroom.
Finally, please remember, I am running for the school board because I honestly care about the children of our community. Without the kids in our school district, the buildings stand empty. No need for teachers, administration, support staff, school board, or any other supporting businesses. We, as a community, need to do all we can to ensure that our kids will be successfully educated. Whether they go on to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, farmers, homemakers or business owners, it is our responsibility to see that they receive the best education possible. The old adage is true, "It takes a village to raise a child".