Howie: Trust and integrity are cornerstones of public education

DULUTH – You’ll have to forgive Duluth taxpayers if we seem a little testy these days when it comes to school funding. After all, we’ve already paid — deeply, repeatedly, and some might say foolishly — for a school district that seems to treat our wallets like a bottomless piggy bank.

And now, as we inch toward the 2026 budget cycle, the early signals out of Duluth Public Schools are the same old chorus: more money, more excuses, less accountability.

Let me be blunt, because someone has to be: Duluth Public Schools needs to balance its budget. Not by holding out the collection plate to already-strained homeowners, but by tightening its own belt. Because Duluth taxpayers? We’re tapped out. Maxed. Overdrawn. We’ve already given, and then some.

Remember the Red Plan? How could you forget? A $300-million-plus school facilities overhaul that steamrolled its way into existence without a public vote, rammed down our throats with all the subtlety of a bulldozer in a china shop. What was sold as a once-in-a-generation investment in our schools quickly turned into a generational burden on Duluth property owners. New buildings, sure. But also ballooning debt, rising property tax levies, and a long trail of buyer’s remorse.

We were promised modern schools and, by implication, modern results. But what we got were gleaming buildings stuffed with budget deficits, declining enrollment, and more consultants than substitute teachers. And don’t forget: the district paid millions in interest payments alone — millions that could’ve gone to teachers, aides, counselors, or even classroom basics like paper towels and functioning heating systems.

Fast forward to today, and the district’s appetite for your money hasn’t waned one bit. Multiple referendums have been floated in recent years asking voters for more funding — and taxpayers have responded with a clear and resounding no. Not because we don’t support kids. We do. But because we no longer trust the system to spend responsibly. Voters aren’t stingy — they’re tired of writing blank checks.

Yet here we are again, with whispers of deficits and the usual blame-shifting. State funding wasn’t enough. Enrollment is down. Inflation, supply costs, the moon’s gravitational pull — it’s always something external. Meanwhile, central administration continues to puff along, layers deep and top-heavy, with little sign of actual reform or fiscal discipline.

Here’s a thought: Before you ask us to dig deeper, maybe sharpen the No. 2 pencils we already bought you.

Take a hard look at your spending. Audit every bloated line item. Trim from the top before you cut another para or special ed position. And start talking like people who work for the public—not over it.

Because Duluth voters are watching. We’ve seen the Red Plan wrecking ball. We’ve seen bond questions come and go, most of them crashing and burning at the ballot box. We’ve seen the “visioning sessions” and the community feedback loops, most of them window dressing for decisions that were already made behind closed doors.

Groupthink and glossy plans aren’t going to cut it anymore. It’s time for this district’s leadership — and yes, that includes the elected school board — to do the hard thing: actually represent the people who put them there.

Balance the budget. Live within your means. Stop floating plans that assume unlimited taxpayer goodwill.

And please, no more crocodile tears from district offices about how there’s nothing left to cut. Ask any teacher how many dollars they spend out-of-pocket just to run a functional classroom. Ask any parent how many bake sales, raffles, and car washes they’ve organized to fund what used to be basics. The fat hasn’t all been trimmed. It’s just been redirected.

We built you new schools. We bought you time. We gave you plenty of rope.

Use it wisely. Or don’t be surprised when the next referendum ends with another loud, decisive no.