Category Archives: Local News

Lakers4Change has placed ANOTHER order for materials that will be delivered this week and we want to thank our donors for making this possible! As many people know, but unfortunately, still not enough, the Teachers Union will throw A LOT of money at the candidates that they endorse. As explained in our latest post, this money comes right out of our hard working teachers’ pockets. A portion of each teacher’s annual dues is directed to a Union PAC that chooses how that money will be used regardless of who that individual supports. This year, less than 15 local unionized teachers submitted their preferred candidates to Prior Lake-Savage Education Association (PLSEA). PLSEA considered this enough data to not only endorse candidates but also to claim that this endorsement is an accurate representation of all of the teachers in this union, which may be as many as 500 PLSAS teachers. Lakers4Change endorsed candidates are depending on the support of individuals, like you, that believe that the PLSAS School Board must be balanced and must bring transparency and accountability back to our district. Teachers, parents and stakeholders need transparent representation. This means we must vote for change. The children need us. FLIP THE BOARD!

The Prior Lake-Savage Education Association (PLSEA) is the local chapter of the MN teachers union. PLSEA recently announced their endorsement of four school board candidates for the upcoming November election. Three of these candidates were endorsed by PLSEA in 2018 and were elected into office. The fourth candidate has worked closely with the current board (incumbents) while leading the TECH YES campaign, supporting the bid for a $35M technology levy that was not passed during the 2021 special election. PLSEA invited all candidates to interview for endorsement which took place the evening of Thursday, September 15. Bill Markert and Lisa Atkinson chose to participate, along with incumbents Michael Nelson, Enrique Velazquez and Jonathan Drewes. Jessica Olstad (TECH YES) also interviewed that evening. Union teachers had the opportunity to watch these interviews live on the PLSEA Facebook page between 4:30 and 8pm and were instructed to submit their recommendations via google form by 9pm that same evening. The video was later removed from the page so unavailable to be rewatched. Several sources have asked union representatives how many surveys were submitted and have reported variable responses of under 15. 15 surveys to represent the views of around 500 teachers in this district. The union notified Markert and Atkinson at 10:45 Friday morning that they were not being endorsed and teachers were informed of the union decision minutes before the announcement was made on social media. Several concerns were brought up by the community in a local Facebook post. One of those concerns is that incumbent Michael Nelson was able to watch the candidates interviews prior to hers when a comment was posted by her 1:26 into the live feed reading, “Hope you have great conversations!” Another, that a comment was made during Jonathan Drewes’ interview indicating that the union planned to endorse him. Also worth noting, Drewes was investigated following a racist remark that he had made about a PLSAS teacher of color, a person he referred to as an “import.” Additionally, a question arose about the expediency of which the union released the endorsed candidate announcement graphic and the similarities between the background of Enrique Velazquez and Jessica Olstad’s photos. It was clear that those photos were taken well in advance of the interviews. One would venture to ask why the union would feel the need to waste the time of the other candidates they never planned to endorse? Is this process equitable for all teachers who are required to pay dues that are then used by the union to support candidates that they have no say in endorsing? Is this a true representation of what the teachers of PLSAS want, and deserve, for leadership? Why would the union choose to endorse those who held up contract negotiations for months? According to optouttoday.com, “Education Minnesota collected $31.2 million in dues and fees from its members in fiscal year 2020, according to reports the union must file with the U.S. Dept. of Labor. In that year alone: $17.3 million went to affiliated organizations, including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, both headquartered in Washington, D.C. This money finances their massive political, economic and social agendas and regular support for a host of controversial organizations. $1.2 million was spent by Education Minnesota on political activity and lobbying.” Educatedteachersmn.com shared that teachers in MN are given a 30 day window to opt-out of union contracts and that window closes today, September 30. In 2018, PLSEA sent expensive flyers to households prior to the election to share their endorsement with stakeholders. Many unknowing citizens believed that these candidates were who teachers trusted and therefore what was in the best interest of their children. Sadly, since 2018, they have been at the forefront of plummeting proficiency rates and racial divide. Don’t make the same mistake twice… VOTE 4 CHANGE!

Yesterday marked the start of Prior Lake-Savage Homecoming week. It was also the Savage Community Fall Festival at the Prior Lake High School and what an amazing opportunity to connect with the community! This is a great time to say… THANK YOU!!! Thank you to all of our incredible volunteers! We could not do what we do without the support of our dedicated community members. If you want to volunteer with Lakers4Change, contact us or go to the volunteer opportunities page to sign up. Make sure to sign up for this evening’s Lakers4Change School Board Candidate Town Hall. Registration will be closing at 5pm today. Check out the Homecoming Spirit Week themes for each school below! Fall Fest HOCO Spirit Week

A huge THANK YOU to the City of Prior Lake. Due to so much community interest in the Lakers4Change School Board Candidate Town Hall event scheduled for tomorrow, September 20, we hit RSVP capacity for the room that was reserved at Prior Lake City Hall. As a team, it was determined that reaching out to city officials to request access a larger space was necessary to create the most inclusive forum possible. The Lakers4Change School Board Candidate Town Hall will now be held in the Club Prior Room located in the Prior Lake Library. This allows us to reopen registration so we are able to allow double the amount of stakeholders to attend. If you have RSVP’d and were notified that you are on the waitlist, you will receive an email notifying you of this change. If you are no longer able to attend, please let us know so we are able to open those seats to others. If you would like to RSVP for this event, go to the Candidate Town Hall Page. In other news… make sure to come down to Savage Community Fall Fest at Prior Lake High School tonight between 6 and 8:30pm. Lots of fun for kids at the Lakers4Change booth including face painting, balloons and more!