Is This Mike Even On?" Documenting the Levy Vote of 2007

An event that I would have loved to document on film was the levy vote of 2007 when over a hundred Minnesota schools had levies on the ballot which would increase property taxes to help fund public schools. Obviously my angle would be to support the levies which would provide much needed financial help to the schools, but I would have attempted to show a relatively balanenced argument that showed the views of both sides. I would have included interviews of the school superintendents and administrators, teachers, students, parents, elderly voters, and younger voters with no kids. Also, I would have really liked to include an interview with Paul Dorr who had such an impact on the Robbinsdale district by papering the area with "vote no" propaganda. These people would have been asked what they actually knew about the levies, how they would have voted, what influenced their decision, and then see if new information would have affected this decision. Part of the documentary would have inlcuded why the schools needed the money from the tax payers, information about the school's budgeting, just how much the tax payers would pay, and what effect the passing or not passing of the levy would have on schools and neighborhoods including the drop in property values due to failing schools. This would have been done through the use of charts and graphs, expert opinions, and visual shots of actual schools, neighborhoods, and homes. Obviously I would face some challenges such as making sure the information and numbers are correct and honestly reflect the situation. Also, getting people to talk about their voting choices can be difficult. Being a teacher who is very dependent on the money from such levies as these, it would be hard to be objective. Hopefully the end result of the documentary would be to get people thinking a little harder about how they vote, why they vote, and if enough information is available to the voters.