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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Feb. 14, 2012

Special Election 2012

On the Ballot

Measures

Complete Coverage

Last day to register for school levy elections

Today is the last day to register in person for the Feb. 14 levy elections for several Spokane County school districts.

Levy rejection is lesson on how schools suffer

Get your yellow flier yet? If so, and if the scare language and the big numbers are giving you pause, when it comes to supporting your local schools, you might want to consider one more number: 1972. Or, in the words of one old newspaper article: “the gloomy specter of 1972.”

No lie: Ballots in the mail

None

Districts will ask voters to help support hundreds of jobs

School levies are often associated with K-12 programs, such as sports, art and music. But the community-supported portion of a school district’s budget – a local tax – also helps pay for hundreds of jobs within a school district, including teachers, coaches, bus drivers, secretaries and janitors.

Schools asking voters to replace state funds

Spokane Public Schools’ board agreed Wednesday to ask voters in February to consider paying more taxes in a levy to compensate for potential state cuts to K-12 education. The region’s largest district is not alone.

District says group’s flier exaggerates levy request

Along with a ballot, residents of the Orchard Prairie School District may have found a bright yellow flier in their mailboxes recently urging them to vote “no” on an upcoming school levy. The fliers were sent out by Citizens for Responsible Taxation, an anti-tax group made up of John Beal, Marilyn Montgomery and former Alton’s Tires owner Duane Alton.