Last week, I wrote about the failure of the Milford school levy by 54 votes in the general election. Milford, a suburb of Cincinnati, was seeking a 5.5 mill operating levy - what would have been its first since 2003. More on that posting. While supporters are waiting to see if the count of provisional ballots on November 25th might put them over the top, they are also scratching their heads to figure out what they need to do - after four past failures - to get the revenue they need to keep the school rated "Excellent" on academics and no longer rated "Fiscal Caution" on finances. More on Milford.
Anyone who has been around a school levy campaign knows this is hard work. It is not just reporting to the public how well you have done and showing the public that you are being responsible with the tax dollars. People vote no for lots of reasons, and people vote yes for lots of reasons, and people stay home and don't vote at all for lots of reasons. In campaigns, you have to find the right message to deliver and then effectively deliver it. That takes time, money, and lots of volunteer effort.
In Milford, they are exhausted.
Below is a letter written shortly after the election Tuesday by Todd Munro, the Milford levy chair, who expresses what I think many of his peers have expressed and will express in the future with a state school funding system that places too much burden on local school districts and communities to pass local levies just to keep up with inflation.
I have been involved with many of the Milford School levies over the past several years - four failures and a potential fifth failure that currently hangs in the balance of a 54 vote differential and the effects of provisional ballots and possible recount.
In the early campaigns, energy was high, volunteers were many, and funding was easily raised. The hope that all of the energy and time would make a difference in the futures of many, and the community at large, was the reason.
After four failures, energy is low, volunteers scarce, and fund raising difficult. The driving force is no longer the hope for the future, but the fear of what will be lost. The efforts of many over the years to create a school district that is doing great things - that is making a difference - could all be lost.
Timing is everything and for our district the timing could not have been worse. We have a new administration and BOE that is working with the community and has put our district back on the right path and corrected many of the wrongs - this should have been our time.
Our campaign this November was no longer about how good a job was being done with the tax payers' dollars or the decisions that were being made by the school district. It became a fight against the economy, foreclosures, healthcare costs, utility costs, job losses, and all of the uncertainties that those things bring - things that are out of the community's and school district's control.
So, pending a miraculous outcome in the provisional ballots and potential recount, our district will face another defeat. Where do we go from here? How do you motivate community members to "try and take the hill" one more time, when they have seen defeat so many times and the taste of victory only 54 votes away?
We should not have to place this burden on our communities. We should not have to pit neighbor against neighbor. We should not have to choose between paying bills and paying for education. There should not be a difference in the level of education that is provided because of a geographical location and the ability of one community to provide more than another. With the current funding system, the number of communities that will be able to continue to provide a quality education, that continues to see increasing costs, standards, and unfunded mandates, will be fewer and fewer.
The funding of education should be like our roads. When they are broke, we fix them. We they are covered in snow, we clear them. When they are maintained, they take us where we want to go. Can you imagine if every time there was a pothole, stoplight repair, or heavy snow that we put the repairs up for a vote? I can hear it now, "I never drive on that road. Why should I have to pay for it."
Education is the foundation of every community. It is the key to job growth, innovation, and future prosperity. It has to be made a priority. Our funding system for education has a pothole and every year that we put off fixing it - it gets bigger and deeper - we need to fix it. There are many that offer suggestions that are beneficial to themselves. The perfect tax is the one that someone else pays. We don't need a funding system that is perfect, just one that is equitable.
Todd Munro
Levy Chair
www.4milford.com