Colin B. read my education issue statement and
wondered how local school districts are going to pay for the programs public schools are asked to offer with property taxes going down. How will it work?
Basically, the problem is that the state government isn’t fulfilling its responsibility to fund education. (That responsibility, by the way, is not only an ethical and public service duty but also a Constitutional one!) This kicks way too much of the education funding burden to local communities, which is why our property taxes are so high in much of the state. It’s also why our schools are so inequitably funded. The solution, then is for the state to pick up its fair share of the tab, which will make it possible to both fund programs and decrease local property taxes.
This particular failure of our state’s government has everything to do with why I’m running: I want to fix our education system and I see that Springfield is a major culprit. But it’s also a good illustration of the broader, cultural malady we need to deal with. When faced with problems in the education system, the state government is happy to generate mandates and assign high-stakes tests, but they’re an awful lot slower to actually pony up the resources needed to solve those problems. Too much talk, and not enough action, which is exactly what’s wrong with our system.
Tags: education funding, property taxes, question, state government
