After weighing the issue for several weeks, I've decided to vote against Seattle's $516 million School Levies which are on the ballot Tuesday, Feb. 3.
In general, I support public education. I attended public schools and I plan to send my son to public school for at least part of his education. Even though I have a number of concerns about Seattle schools, and the new School Board in particular, I've been inclined to support the school levy, because at the end of the day, school kids would benefit if it passes and lose if it fails.
But I've reached a point where I'm so disappointed with the School District, the School Board and the state's education establishment that I'm not going to vote to keep supporting this institution with my money at this time. The School District is largely unaccountable to taxpayers, and as crude and imperfect a message as rejecting a levy might be, this is one of the few ways I have to send the message that I am disappointed.
Here are the final straws that turned me off (in chronological order) --
1. The state House of Representatives voted to lower the levy approval threshhold from 60% to simple majority, a step toward making it even harder for voters to hold School Districts accountable.
2. The School District decided to maintain the "weighted student formula", which sends larger amounts of money to schools with low-income or non-native English speakers, even though it has also learned that this weighted funding does not produce positive results.
3. Most disturbingly, I discovered after trying to understand the cost of the levy to taxpayers, that the School District and levy promoters have consistently underplayed and misstated its actual cost. See the post below for an in-depth analysis. This is no way to persuade people to vote for a $516 million tax increase. They owe it to the voters to explain the costs in a clear and straightforward fashion and also explain why the benefits are worth the costs. This has not been done. I have little reason to believe that the School District will be any more straightforward with the public once the taxes have been collected.
4. Finally, the School Board is siding with the Teamsters' Union in its labor dispute with a local dairy. This action has absolutely nothing to do with their mandate to oversee the school system. It erases any confidence I might have had left that these board members even take their responsibilities seriously, let alone have the wherewithal to execute them properly.
I suspect that the levy will pass after all, because (a) the levy was so poorly explained to the public that few people have any clue how much it will actually cost them, (b) Seattle people have a tradition of voting to raise their neighbors' taxes at the drop of a hat (c) children are naturally sympathetic and this is sold as a "for the children" measure (even though the employee groups have the biggest financial stake) (d) the pro-levy forces have a well-oiled get-out-the-vote operation (e) it's late in the game and there is no organized opposition.
Voting NO on the levy will only have symbolic impact. But it's a symbolic message that deserves to be sent.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 29, 2004 07:01 AM