Cutting The Cost Of Education
Spokane School District 81’s decision not to submit another technology levy to the voters in February reveals a keen awareness of the public’s mounting intolerance of taxes.
As much as school officials may want to buy more computers for classrooms, they’re not about to endanger the maintenance and operation levy that will be on the same February ballot - and on which they rely for one-fifth of their budget.
Spokane isn’t the only place in the state where there is nervousness about school funding, including voter support for special levies.
Terry Lindquist, superintendent of the Puget Sound Educational Service District, said last week that a variety of cost-cutting steps are being considered “as money gets tighter.” Steps such as charging students to participate in extracurricular activities like athletics and musical performance groups.
It’s been years since we’ve heard serious talk here about such proposals, but with federal and state funding being tightened, and voters showing scorn for tax proposals, it may not be long.
What do “Bagpipes” readers think about pay-for-play policies? What other economizing measures are available to local school districts?
We’ll recap your responses here next week.
Manacles, manikins and Power Rangers
The Christmas shopping season was officially launched last week and with it the Christmas-shopping-political-protest season.
In Seattle, animal-rights groups took on the fur-fashion industry. Some got arrested by handcuffing themselves to display-window manikins.
They used toy handcuffs, by the way, meaning they may have been defying a Spokane group’s protest against toys that glorify violence.
What impact do such demonstrations have? Any? For that matter, what harm do toy guns do?
Every day’s a holiday
Speaking of the holidays, an Everett woman, angry that grocery stores were open last Easter, is circulating an initiative petition to make Easter Sunday, as well as the Monday that follows it, plus Dec. 26, all holidays.
How will you vote on that one if it gets on the ballot? When you answer, throw in a thought or two about American productivity.
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