An idea worth exploring
We have no illusions that funding schools will be anything but a perpetual struggle between the passion of parents and educators and fiscal realism.
The annual debate changes from year to year, but the fundamental reality that we can’t afford all we’d like doesn’t, and most of the time there aren’t a lot of ideas being floated about how to change the dynamic.
But this year, more heated than most, has yielded at least one solid prospect: Creating an endowment or a special community fund to provide an extra boost to the budget.
The idea is not new, especially if you’re paying attention to how public universities are dealing with the downward drift of state and federal support. And there’s also a local model, the Public School Foundation, that’s already helping to reward exceptional teaching.
At recent public hearings, more than 100 people stood up to say they’d be willing to pay more than the proposed 3.7-cent tax hike if it meant fully funding or better funding the schools. Presumably, those who made it out to the meetings represented hundreds, possibly thousands, more who feel the same way.
If everyone who’s willing to pay more were to make a healthy contribution to a well-run, well-defined foundation, school and county leaders might at last have a little less to fight over in years to come.
Dear Grads: Help!
Memo to the graduating class of Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill highs: This is the space normally reserved for lofty salutations, good wishes and platitudes marking the occasion of your filing in and out of the Dean Dome without serious incident.
We dispense with this formality reserved for the annual commencement in light of several conditions demanding your immediate attention.
First off, please take a minute and register to vote. The participation rate of the young has dropped to new lows. The number of young people who vote in local elections is even lower. You’ll need to change that. Believe us, it’ll pay off in the long run. Second, consider sticking around. A recent study showed that while Orange County produces some of this state’s best and brightest, not enough of them remain in county and in state. We’re going to need your energy and talent to deal with a few things we haven’t quite been able to solve just yet.
So, to paraphrase all those speeches you just sat through: Welcome to your bright, promising future. Some assembly required.
The Citizen and local elections
Right now, in hushed and not-so-hushed voices, there is talk about who is and who isn’t going to be on the ballot for the 2007 elections.
Filing for municipal offices in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough and for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education opens at 12:00 noon, Friday, July 6, and closes at noon on Friday, July 20.
Since we’re a new publication, we just want to state at the outset that we do not intend — ever — to endorse any candidates for elected office.
We do intend to provide voters with strong coverage of the issues and the views and records of those running.
We also want to encourage greater participation in civil discourse (underline civil) and invite our readers to send us your views on the elections.
Regarding the idea probably not worth exploring, The North Carolina Constitution guarantees a free public school education to the children of North Carolina. You are paying back the free public education that was available to you when you were a child.
The main problem is that residential growth is a losing proposition. It costs something like $1.30 in services for every $1 in tax revenue. Without healthy business growth, then this is going to continue to worsen. That is, property taxes are going to disproportionately increase above normal inflation due to growth.
No foundation will be able to close the funding gap. The state and federal government needs to stop reducing its funding. Growth needs to pay for itself or we need more effective economic development. Or perhaps school boards need taxation levy authority to allow them to meet their state and federal mandates.
A community that chooses to back down from supporting public education runs against our progressive values.