"Education is too important to be left solely to the educators." —Frances KeppelAs soon as I heard the Luverne School Referendum did not pass, I thought of this quote. Luverne, as a community, prides itself on having a good school system and educating its students to the highest degree. I feel this pride was lost when the referendum did not pass, and pride alone cannot educate the students. Luverne has a staff that is second to none, but they cannot educate the students without financial support. I feel the reason Luverne has such a good staff is because the community supports the public school system so well. Now I fear the quality of educators in Luverne could be lowered simply because taxpayers could not open up their pocket books. Numerous teachers have told me that a property owner with $100,000 in property would pay 40 cents a day. I feel that that is an extremely small price to pay for quality education. A good education is priceless and should never be taken away. With many things being cut in this last school year, I am afraid to think what is going to get cut in the years to come. Being a junior, I know that I will not feel the major consequences of this decision by the taxpayers, but I feel for the younger students who will. I know, however, that I will feel some of the effects in my last year of high school. I have had a wonderful high school experience with all the activities and class offerings at LHS and do not want anyone to be sold short of that. Many students live, so to speak, for extracurricular at LHS. If these activities were taken away, I am afraid many students would lose their enthusiasm for school. Extracurricular activities are what keep students excited about school; lack of excitement from students may lead to poor performance by students. Taxpayers, please think about the decision you made at the polls. Think about the experience students are being denied when you voted no. I feel the staff, superintendent, and school board are doing an awesome job to keep the quality of education alive in Luverne, but they cannot do it without your support. Please help support them the next time the referendum is on the ballot. After all, you are supporting the future of Luverne by supporting the school and its students. Alissa JohnsonLuverneLuverne High School Junior