Raising points on the school bond

Clayton D. King

A few months ago I received a “Dear Neighbor” letter/flier from the

superintendent of the Huntington Beach Union High School District.

This week, I received a similar message from the principal of Edison

High School. I’m sure I will receive the same message from the

teachers’ union in the near future. They are all a pitch for the

school bond measure on the March ballot. I’d like to take a minute

and address the points they raise.

1. Some schools in the district are more than 35 years old and are

thus badly in need of certain repairs. Translation -- the highly paid

superintendents over the years have failed to properly budget for

ongoing maintenance of the physical plant.

2. The measure contains “strict accountability measures,” the

flier reads. An independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee will

be formed and “guaranteed, annual financial and performance audits”

will be performed. Translation -- We admit that our highly paid

superintendent and his staff are either incompetent or cannot be

trusted to manage the funds.

We are not told what power, if any, this oversight committee will

have. I submit they will have no power other than to inform the

taxpayers if the money is mismanaged. If that happens what will

change? Nothing.

3. Not one penny of the funds can be spent on administrators’

salaries, the flier said. (This point will also soon be made by the

teachers’ union.) That is true, but if they do not have to take funds

out of the general fund to make the repairs they will have much more

money available for administrators’ and teachers’ salaries. Of all

points they raise to support a vote in favor of the bond, this one is

the most misleading. I think a good argument can be made that this

bond measure has little to do with school repair and everything to do

with increasing administrators’ and teachers’ salaries. Let’s call it

what it is.

4. Test scores are improving and if we make repairs test scores

will continue to improve. As a former high school teacher in various

environments, I can assure the superintendent that physical plant has

very little to do with student performance. Good teachers are, and

always have been, the key to good student performance.

These communications from the school district (how much has been

wasted on printing and mailing?) do not motivate me to vote in favor

of the bond measure. Applying even a reasonable amount of common

sense to their arguments I am motivated to vote against it. I urge

each of you to do the same.

* CLAYTON D. KING is a Huntington Beach resident To contribute to

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