Campy's Editorial Page
Election Alert!
Raising taxes not the answer for schools
Artist's rendition of the Boston Tea Party
School bond issue: Reject it
By Jim Urling
Guest columnist
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
It's the same old idea, prepared by the same old people, to fix the same old
problem. For the precise reasons the voters rejected the Cincinnati Public
School (CPS) bond levy last November - then Issue 8 - on May 6 the voters should
reject the CPS Bond Levy, now Issue 3.
The Cincinnati Public School $985 million Facilities Master
Plan is brought to us by a school board that has placed our schools in the same
category year in and year out - academic emergency. Despite currently spending
$10,000 per student per year, the school board and teachers' union solution is
always the same: more money! When will the madness end, and teachers and
administrators stand up and admit that raising taxes now isn't the answer?
$15,000 per student per year? $20,000 per student per year?
The School Facilities Master Plan has four phases that will
take 10 years to complete. The Cincinnati School Board readily admits it already
has enough of our tax dollars to begin and complete Phase 1 without any
additional levy or state funds. So, why not do the sensible thing: responsibly
initiate Phase 1, reclaim some of the public trust that has been lost due to
such things as failing to maintain the school buildings during the 1990's, and
then come back to the voters?
The School Board's track record for managing our tax dollars
is deplorable. In order to hold the Board accountable, we must insist that it
successfully completes Phase 1 with a solid maintenance plan before receiving
any additional funds from the public. It is our civic duty to reign in inept and
undisciplined government agencies that have failed to perform properly.
Beware of any claims that CPS needs these funds to begin
Phase 2. The Master Plan states that Phase 2 does not begin until January 2005.
There is more than enough time for CPS to prove itself by performance before
additional funds are necessary. Also, beware of the claim that CPS is in danger
of losing the state match if we do not pass this levy. That is completely
untrue. In November, it also claimed that interest rates could increase to argue
for passage of the levy. Interest rates are lower now than they were then and
there is no reason to believe that they will skyrocket in the near future.
The good-hearted taxpayers of our community have been abused
too many times when it comes to trusting elected officials to plan and manage
large building projects (this levy is bigger than both stadiums combined.) This
10-year facilities master plan is really in flux because the school-age
population is declining so rapidly that any plan more than two years' out is
suspect. For example, because of the area's unpredictable demographics, just
last month the School Board modified part of Phase 1, which is already in
implementation. Yet, the school board wants the taxpayers to hand over their
money now for a plan that won't be completed for another 10 years.
The taxpayers in Ohio have just had a 6-cent gas tax and
1-cent sales tax heaped upon them. The economy is in a tailspin with many
qualified people out of work. And, senior citizens who rely on interest income
or fixed incomes are in danger of losing their homes.
I think you will agree that we already pay too much and
receive too little from our public schools. Please join me in holding the School
Board accountable by voting NO on Issue 3.
--- Reprinted with permission.
Jim Urling is chairman of Citizens Opposed to Additional
Spending and Taxes (COAST). For More Information Please Visit:
http://www.gocoast.org
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