It died some thirty years ago.

An evolution brought a new method of learning and trickled itself down to the common man and changed how we perceive things and fall into the trap that everything should be handed to us and we should not challenge or even be aware of what those who we elect to represent us is deciding for us.

What died thirty years ago was the American Spirit. However, it is not Totally dead. Maybe greatly weakened.

You can still see it in the eyes of the soldiers who come back from overseas and you can see it in the eyes of the citizens 45 years old or more and you can see it in the eyes of some of the younger generation like Tom Gilmer and Brett McClafferty. That ambition and desire that burns in their heart just like those of 30 years ago.

Those who know as an American the walls were erected to be torn down. The stronger the wall the harder we work at tearing it down. Not willing to throw in the towel how difficult the task is.

But there are those out there who just read the news, go on their merry way and if it doesn not involve them directly, if there is no benefit to them in the very short term then it is a waste of time and is no concern of theirs.

The live the life of abandonment, vanity and self preservation. Starvation next door, poverty is a disease and should interfer with their abundance and should be punished if it does.

We use to live as a nation of Americans who helped each other and gave of their time and not just their money.

The money does help but the soul can do much more good for both the person dishing it out as it does for the person on the receiving end.

Community spirit in all endeavors that we as a community encounter will help our community more than you know.

Our differences make us who we are and you know as well as I do many differences of opinion show up here.

As with all I agree sometimes and disagree at other times. I welcome the counter opinion for if I never heard it I would not know how to approach it, and maybe I would never be able to understand it. And even if I understand it, I have the right to agree and disagree. One thing it doesn't do, is make me feel as if I should be that persons enemy. It actually makes me feel closer to them. We have a common gound. We have opinions. We have different perspectives. Ones perspective is theirs and it may be right or it may be wrong. But it doesn't make a person an enemy. What makes an enemy is a person or civilization that wants to take that right away from us. Those who want to take away our vote and the right to voice our opinion. Those who want us to shut up for it might reaveal something or take something away.

It appears many who have written input regarding the school levy and in support of it are mostly people associated with the district in some form or another.

I have not really heard from anyone who is not part of the district and in support of the levy. Has anyone else noticed that who has been following posts with my name attached? It is either an employee, an employees spouse or someone who volunteers a lot of time to the district. I have not heard from anyone other than Mariannegl, wonderful person by the way.

Not one person who supports the levy I believe has ever written something in the opinion section.

I wonder why the Yes voters, who have no association with the school district other than being a resident of Streetsboro, is supporting the levy?

I know the No Voters ALL have a pretty good idea on why they vote No. They seem to be the only informed people in the district.

Parents with children in the district will most likley vote yes but there are still many who would vote no.

And if you do vote Yes, are you really, really going to have the funds and job stability next year to afford it? Look around you really good. Take a hard look at your companies profits and sales and make sure the economy is not going to affect your business for if it does, it may affect you.

Funding a school district can be a very difficult mission and it will become more difficult in times of economic downturn. Necessities vital to the operation and success of the end product will dictate how the funding should be used to achieve this goal and lack of funding will bring to the surface the anchors that are holding us back and it will have to reach an extreme critical pitch before we will be able to see the problem and correct it.

Many already see those problems and are voicing them but the information and alarm is falling on deaf ears and closed minds.

Here's a philosophical thought!

"Position of false power overcomes and stifles common sense."

Would anyone like to discuss that previous sentence with me?

So it is almost dead. American Spirit, that is.
That desire to tackele a job we might never have done before just to see if we can do it and overcome the adversity of it. We look for the easy way out. We look to someone else to do it or make it happen just so long as we didn't have to do it. I don't care if you spend the money foolishly just as long as I don't really have to give any of my time or pay attention. The new American Way.

For we no longer want to get out and do the menial work. We hire gardeners, lawncare people, handyman, immigrants. Most don't want to do it themselves, have no idea on how to even begin to do it themselves, have no desire to learn, but sit back and let someone else do it.

My Dad always did everything. Many times not the way it should have been done but he still got it done. Sure we still had specialists but most of the time, the old many did it. Or Mom did it. Not any more. The trend is leaning more and more towards let someone else do it.

It's not for them. I don't care who does it, I don't care how much it costs, just don't bother me with it. That is the new American Way.

As long as I'm alive, I am going to fight against this new way. I will voice my opinion, I will fight for the things I think are right, I will fight for the freedom to choose and speak my mind and I will fight for the right of the children when the powers that be have left them behind, I will fight for those Seniors who fought for me and were willing to give their life and persevere in their loneliness waithing for those fighting to return. I will get involved. I will joing organizations and give me time to them without expecting pay or compensation other than knowing I have done something good for another.

I have the American Spirit.

As it has been said many times before "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". We should really be more concerned with feeding the minds of the children than pacifying the public and keeping too much in the dark and feeding the endless pit that grows bigger each year we call "Salaries and Benefits". This pit has gotten so large that it's appetite will never be quenched and never be met. It has grown beyond our control as more has been given. It is going to be the cause of death.
The death of real estate, the death of the economy, the death of the elderly who can longer afford the cost, the death of the family that has been torn apart by it's cost and the death of the community. Those involved in it's creation will move on and start anew somewhere else. Putting behind them the suffering those chose to ignore while it was happening.

Safety of the children is the number one priority and eveything else comes second to that. Once we have the safety, then the rest of the funds is spread out over everything else.

We have to have safe transportation, we have to have safe classrooms both in maintenance wise and staff wise. If we have staff that could have the potential of creating harm to a student we get rid of them no questions asked. If we have a structural problem, it is repaired, if we have a transportation problem, it should be attended to.

Unions should not and shall not protect individuals who endanger our children regardless of what the child has done or said. There is a chain of command that must be adhered to when dealing with the discipline of a child within our district and a staff member or employee should never cross that line and if they do, their employement should be, without any hesitation be terminated immediately.

Their job is to teach and leave discipline to those designated by the district to perform that function.

If we have any such teacher in our district, then it would be the duty of both the Administration and School Board to insure the public that this staff member be released from our district.

It has to be done before the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year begins. Do not put the children of our community in danger. Do right by the community and the children the way you say you do.

Martin Fleming