By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… The will of the people has, once again, been overridden by a government agency.
Two years ago, the citizens of Clark County voted down an increase in taxes to support the building and repair of school facilities. I have lived in Clark County for nearly 50 years and it was the first time the citizens voted down a tax increase for schools.
Let me clarify my position on this increase in taxes. I supported the increase both in my column and with my vote. The increase is not the issue. The issue is that a vast majority of the people, who will be paying those taxes, did not support it.
The wishes of the majority of the citizens of Clark County have been negated by the action of the State Legislature. This is not a case of taxation without representation. This is a case of the representatives expressing the belief that they know better than the citizens. While taxation without representation is an idea most Americans oppose, so is taxation with representation that doesn’t care what the people they represent want.
A law signed into effect by Governor “No New Taxes” Sandoval will add the burden of paying off an additional $4 billion in general obligation bonds through 2025. This burden will be placed exclusively on the backs of the citizens of Clark County.
The Governor has pointed out this is done without adding new taxes. It merely extends the obligation the citizens have in paying off earlier bonds. While you will not see an increase in your property tax, you definitely will not see the tax that pays for the present bonds disappear. Jim McIntosh, CCSD Chief Financial Officer, estimates that the District will issue new debt every one to three years until the $4 billion is done. He further explained that the District has over $8 billion worth of needs right now.
I have no way to argue with the need. I in fact would support a vote to bond for the whole $8 billion dollars. When one looks at what the District did with the latest bonds, they could legitimately argue that over $100 million was spent on items outside the realm of facilities. Giving $5 million dollars of this bond money to the construction of the Smith Center might be a good place to start. According to the line item document showing the expenditure of this bond issue numerous books, computers, vehicles, trophy cases, etc. were purchased with these facility bonds. While these may well be legitimate needs, one must question if they really fell in the realm of facilities. We can only hope someone will take a closer look at where the money spent under these new bonds is going and how each expenditure is related to facilities.
The District’s policy of “deferred maintenance” has led to a backlog of repairs that are needed in the buildings throughout the District. When a District facility executive explain the “deferred maintenance” policy in a Bond Oversight Committee meeting, I thought, “Did he really mean what he said?”
According to this official, maintenance was not done on a regular basis. The District maintenance department waited for a piece of equipment to fail and then replace it. It would be like never changing the oil in your car and when the engine blows, you would buy a new engine.
That did not make sense to me when it was said and to this day I can’t believe it is cheaper to do this than maintain the equipment.
In any case, the point is not the need for these funds. The point is that the District has done an end run around the electorate.
When the people said ‘no’ to this increase in bonding, the District was able to lobby the State Legislature into ignoring the will of the citizens of Clark County. It makes no difference to Governor Sandoval for it does not affect his state budget. The taxes that are extended are only on the property holders in Clark County.
No one asked me but… The school year is coming to an end. At the end of each school year, it has been my privilege to help select students for a number of scholarships.
We have been reading about how the public school system is failing the students, parents, and citizens of the United States. Let me suggest that this is just another example of the trashing of America.
If you want to understand education in America today, you should look at the vast majority of schools that have successfully educated the youth of America. The over 70 percent graduation rate is not a decline. This figure has remained static for over thirty years. In 1958, less than 60 percent of high school aged students in America graduated from high school.
We read and see on television the problems in large metro districts and assume that all education in America is in need of an overhaul. If one examines the issue honestly, they will find that in the communities where there are strong family ties, economic values, and work ethic, the schools are functioning at a high level. This might suggest the problems in American education are not educational problems. Let me suggest that until these societal problems are resolved, educational problems in the inner-cities of America will continue.
There has been a movement afoot to divide the Clark County School District into five smaller districts. Those who champion this cause don’t seem to realize you will only be creating five districts with the same problems of the one large district.
Those in Moapa Valley who support this break up would not benefit, for the school would still be a small part of a district with inner-city problems. The only benefit of making smaller districts would be if the district were separated by the needs of the students.
One of the problems in education today is we assume that all students can learn in the same manner with the same programs. Creating smaller homogeneous districts could allow a district to develop educational programs that meet the distinctive needs of the students they serve.
The educational goals for all students may be the same; however, the road to those goals are completely different. It does not mean that either set of students are intellectually inferior, it means that the experience and background of students demand different educational opportunities.
Thought of the week…While teaching can be done thirty to one, all learning is done one on one.
