Posted by jon on April 15, 2007 at 18:20:41 (EST):
In Reply to: Re: Cosolidation posted by .. on April 15, 2007 at 17:54:16 (EST):
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: : : : : : : : : Voter Beware. Any time a candidate claims to have all of the answers, they are wrong. How can anyone be in full support or completely against consolidation when the definition of "consolidation" has not yet been determined, and the facts that need to be analyzed are not yet available. Anyone who has formed a finalized opinion on this issue demonstrates a true inability to make a well informed decision. I am tired of listening to people who are for or against consolidation, and I would never cast my vote for anyone who has made up their mind before the research is complete. This election is too important for this area to elect anyone in who is pushing their "personal" agenda. Emotional choices cannot exist when we have so much to lose. So let's CONSOLIDATE as a group of voters and let our candidates know that we need them to keep their minds open and base their choices on knowledge and common sense.
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: : : : : : : : Sorry for the spelling error in the Subject line. Cosolidation = Consolidation :)
: : : : : : : Finally! You are right on! Most of you really need to look at this statement and try to identify WHAT IS BEST FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR KIDS??!! should be the most important issue here not our petty opinions of the current school board members lets focus on THE KIDS!!!
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: : : : : : Yeah, yeah.."the kid's".
: : : : : : Listen, I agree the kids in the area deserve the best education...that we can AFFORD to give them.
: : : : : : Sure, we COULD build a new taj-mahal school with all the classrooms, labs, auditoriums and sports facilities, or we COULD renovate all the schools to be "state of the art" facilities.
: : : : : : We COULD also hire even more teachers than we currently have.
: : : : : : What we COULD do and what we can AFFORD to do are completely separate issues. The peple of this area are not rich people. We do not have the tax base to go on a spending spree. What we need to do is whatever provides the kids with what they NEED, for the lowest possible cost.
: : : : : : People who do not have kids understand this the best. They don't feel they should face losing their homes just so that those who have kids can be happy with their school.
: : : : : : Something else many of the people don't realize is that if area taxpayers weren't being raped by property taxes, a lot more parents could afford to send their kids to college.
: : : : : : Look at the sherrif's sale pages, the people of this area just can't afford additional taxes. Many can't even afford the current taxes.
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: : : : : ~~ If the taxpayer wasn't being raped by property taxes more parents could afford to send their kids to college?? Whewwww!!! Sorry, but that makes no sense (to me) at all...if you are saying that your kid isn't going to college because you can't pay for it, then my guess is, you and your kid do NOT seriously care about going to college at all. Do you really think that all the kids going to college are doing so because their parents pay for it?? I suppose some might be, but I know too many kids in college and also, I have 4 college grad nephews, 1 college grad niece, and a daughter going to college right now and guess what......mommy and daddy didn't /aren't paying the bill....these kids took the time to fill out paperwork for loans and grants, AND they worked/work jobs on top of going to school. So, don't blame having to pay taxes as a reason a kid isn't pursuing a higher education. Read what Golden gopher says....about people around here seem to be content living this way. And you're right, some people don't have kids, but they might have friends with kids, nieces or nephews, don't they as family members deserve something? I have a daughter and guess what....I paid some big bucks for her to go to Catholic school for 12 years and never whined about paying taxes because 1) it was my choice to do that and 2) I have nephews and nieces and lots of friends with a kid or 2 using the education system. Yes, I suppose everyone has seen houses in the sheriff sales, and I'm not sure why that happens because a person should disipline themself to put aside the money knowing that taxes are due. Sorry to sound so harsh, but taxes aren't like some spur of the moment bill that just turns up....you know how much your taxes are....budget yourself and discipline yourself to save the money.~~
: : : : Listen Toilet Paper, there are a boat load of kids who can't afford to go to school at all, and a lot who, as you said, have work their way through college.
: : : : First off, why should my kid have to work his way through college, just because a select group of people want to have some "super school"?
: : : : Second, it's a hell of a lot harder to get through college while holding down a job than it is to go while having nothing else to do, like the little rich kids do. Yeah, they can get loans, but that usually isn't enough, parents still have to shell out for living and other expenses while the kids are going to school. As for grants, there are income guidlines for those. If the parents are making good money, the kid isn't going to get anything, regardless how how high their property taxes are.
: : : : Do the kids deserve an education?...yeah.
: : : : Do they deserve the BEST, at the taxpayers' expense?...absolutely not.
: : : : Should those who have no kids be paying out the ass so that those who do can have the BEST for THEIR kids...hell no!
: : : : The taxpayer should be responsible only for what is required. If parents think their kids DESERVE more, let them pay to send them to a private school.
: : : : "as family members"???What's that supposed to mean?
: : : : As for people losing their homes, it is more than a matter of people not setting money aside. MAny of those homes were bought long before property taxes went through the roof. Many, that have been bought recently, will be lost if the board chooses to continue their ridiculous ways.
: : : : It's hardly the homeowners' fault if they neglected to consider that the board would double or triple their taxes in a matter of ten years.
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: : : Fantastic analysis.
: : : You pretty much contradicted yourself on every point you "tried" to make.
: : : The one that really stands out, though, is the question, do the kids deserve the best education at the taxpayers expense?
: : : Um, I'm pretty sure the answer would be "yes".
: : : Why would we want (those with kids or not) a mediocre education for our tax money.
: : : Do you think because of our high taxes, we're getting the best education? NO WAY! That's the entire point really. We're paying huge taxes, but what are we getting in return? Nothing but the maintenance of some run down buildings in dire need of renovation. Hell, once the buildings have been "fixed" up, we're only operating at half capacity in some cases. Enrollment trends show a significant decline in the future, so it's only going to get worse.
: : : If you were running a business this way, you'd be out of business quickly.
: : : It doesn't seem to make much sense to the logical person, does it? Exactly. It's falling on deaf ears for many on this message board.
: : No, the kids do not deserve the BEST education at the TAXPAYERS expense. They deserve a good education, but not "the best money can buy". The taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for this. If a parent wants a better education, let him send his kid to a private school, at HIS expense, not the taxpayers'.
: : So UM, the answer is "NO".
: : What we need is the BEST we can AFFORD. If all we can afford is "mediocre", then so be it. This is not a county of rich people. If what the taxpayers in this district can afford is not good enough. I would suggest eiyther putting your kld in private school, or moving to a more affluent school district. Oh, that's right, you don't want to do that...because you can't AFFORD to do it.
: : I'm not saying we are getting the best. Far from it. But building a new school is not going to give the kids a better education, and it will most certainly cause our taxes to be even higher.
: : I'm not even against consolidation in and of itself, I'm against consolidation because it will undoubtedly increase our tax burden.
: : If I see concrete numbers, including ALL expenses, and they are lower with consolidation, I'd be the first to vote for it.
: : We will never see this though. We will see what the board and the rest of the consolidati want us to see, and we won't see what they don't want us to see. That's why we've seen all these outrageous estimates on renovation, but nothing on transportation costs and the cost of building a new school AND renovating the other 5 schools.
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: : The only reason the buildings are in such terrible condition is because the board intentionally let them go to hell. They used all the money to build the new school out at West Hills, and let the buildings fall apart so they could call for the construction of a consolidated school.
: : How long until they let West Hills fall apart?
: : You say if I ran a business....
: : What kind of "businessman" intentionally allows his building to fall apart?
: That's quite an accusation to say they "purposely" let the buildings fall apart, so the evil ones could finally get that "super" school.
: That's also quite funny to think someone actually thinks this to be the case.
How else would you explain the fact that the board managed to let KHS go from like new condition to the point it is in now, where it requires millions just to get it back to that condition in a matter of less than 25 years?
It certainly wasn't a lack of funds. They managed to build not one but two new schools in that same time.
Simple preventative maintainance could have avoided this problem.
I never said anybody was "evil".