EDUCATIONALLY SPEAKING
gay geiser-sandoval
Well, Steve, I was going to stay out of the bond fray until closer to the
June 5 election. I attend most school board meetings. Like Sid Soffer, I
am often the curmudgeon. I receive many of the school reports. I often
sit during the multi-hour meetings and ask myself what I would do if I
were a board member.
While I am not a Libertarian, I start with a predisposition against
bonds. Many times, I support the cause for which the money is needed and
will be used. But, I don’t refinance my house every time I need to make
home or car repairs. I pay for repairs with today’s dollars. Because
today’s dollars are in the bank, I won’t be paying off the cost of
repairs for the next 25 years, at two or three times the cost of the
original repair. So, if it were up to me, we would have paid more taxes
in the past 20 years, so that we would have had the money necessary to
repair and maintain schools.
I have not been in the majority on my position, and our state has been
adamant about the need to cut property taxes and keep them low. Our
income taxes have been used in large measure to lock people in jail or
prison. That meant that other public services, such as schools,
libraries, public health care facilities, and parks have taken the hit.
Steve, you say the failure to maintain our local schools is the fault of
our school board. If that were the case, why is every other school
district in California facing the same problem? They haven’t all been
victims of embezzlement and bankruptcy. The bankruptcy money has almost
all been recovered. The embezzlement was a drop in the bucket compared to
the cost of repairing the schools.
Steve, I think you should apologize to your kids and the kids in the
district for the state of the schools. I think I should, too. I think
every adult should stand up and take responsibility. How many of you have
gotten up at school board meetings on a monthly basis and asked the board
to do whatever it takes to repair the schools? How many of you have sent
in a $1,000 donation to fix your neighborhood school? We all knew that
the schools have been falling apart, but which one of us was willing to
seek election to the school board on a Fix the School campaign? How many
school districts have been successful in talking their voters into
providing money to fix their local schools in the last 10 years? How many
of you would support the school board cutting out every elective
class and every sports or extracurricular activity to free up funds for
school repair?
The bond that will go before the voters in June has the guarantees you
need to vote for it. The money has to be used for the repairs already
outlined by the architects, which have studied every school, and made
recommendations, which were adopted by the volunteer committee of parents
and business people. Each school will have an oversight committee, and
there will be a districtwide oversight committee made up of parents and
professionals.
There will be one or two annual audits, and the volunteer audit committee
will keep an eye on things, too. The board didn’t get their feelings hurt
about the public’s lack of trust. They figured out whom the public
trusts, and put them in charge of looking after the funds, too.
So, Steve, maybe we need a mass apology day. Every adult needs to
apologize to the kids for the shape of the schools. Even if it takes me
25 years to pay the bill to get the schools fixed, I am ready to pay,
with or without any apologies.
A reminder to those who will be 18 years old by June 5: Register to vote
by sending in a voter registration postcard found at the post office or
City Hall. You’ve lived with the problem.
Now, be part of the solution.
* GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs Tuesdays.
She can be reached by e-mail at GGSesq@aol.com .
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.