There have been a number of opinion letters in the Gazette recently about the school board race. Here’s the bottom line as far as I’m concerned:
The incumbents have finally dug themselves out of the financial hole they created. The problem is they are now out of ideas. When further cuts in state education funding happen in the next few years, they will fall back on doing what they’ve always done: cut teachers, increase class sizes and ask for mill levy overrides. In fact, Board President John Mann already floated the idea of a mill levy override at the May board meeting and it is on the schedule for the January advisory council. If you re-elect this board, it’s (bad) business as usual.
District 38 does indeed have great students, parents and teachers. What it lacks is strong, visionary leadership. As a teacher, I don’t want the budget balanced on the backs of teachers. As a taxpayer, I am uncomfortable with the high debt level the district is carrying and the number of unused and underused assets they are paying for. I want a reassessment of where we spend our money and to focus our efforts on the classroom, not on administrative salaries and overhead.
To get off the cut-and-restore train, District 38 needs new leadership. If you want to move forward, vote Ken Valdez, Gordon Reichal and me, Al Maurer, for District 38 school board!
