Local Control Works

If public schools are going to improve it’ll happen because they heed the advice of the local communities they serve. The bond issue proposed in Spokane School District 81 proves the point.

Years ago, some district bureaucrats dreamed of abandoning Lewis & Clark High School, an architectural gem priceless in character and tradition, for a more expensive “modern” building somewhere out in the suburbs. Parents, alumni, students, faculty, history lovers and downtown boosters all hated the idea. A grass-roots committee of volunteers, including respected architect Steve McNutt, donated their time, studied all the options and found a lower-cost solution that pleased everyone.

That solution is on Tuesday’s ballot: Renovate LC’s failing mechanical innards - wiring, plumbing, heating. Preserve its historic charm - the exterior, the woodwork, the art, the marble, the terazzo. Buy a little land for athletic fields.

The same principle - listen - shaped every other aspect of the district’s proposal. A few years ago voters felt neither teachers nor technology were ready for a bond to install instructional computers. Now, everyone’s raring to go - students as well teachers, and the value of computers for writing, research and presentations is clear. As for other renovations, the district followed the LC model in all its buildings. From Rogers to Ferris, from Browne to Wilson, local parents and educators worked together to solve and prioritize facility-improvement needs that join LC renovation in this historic bond issue. It deserves your support.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board