We have an opportunity to make a long-term investment in the lives of our young people and the future of our community by voting for the 1â„4-cent sales tax. County commissioners have pledged to invest these monies in classrooms, economic development and jobs for the next 10 years – vital components to the future of our local community.
For every $4 you spend on items such as clothing, fast food and lodging, this new tax would cost you 1 penny. You would not pay this sales tax on vital purchases such as groceries, gasoline, prescription medicines and most farm supplies and equipment.
· Half of our elementary schools were built during the Eisenhower administration – more than 50 years ago – and most of our other schools are at least 30 years old. While these schools are sound physical structures, they all face problems common to older schools and large heavily used buildings – heat/air systems are high energy users and inoperable at times, windows and doors are old and in terrible shape, roofs leak and bathrooms and entry ways need to be updated. Orange County Schools plans to use proceeds from the new tax to be aggressive in getting these problems fixed.
· Orange County students deserve to be on equal footing with their peers as they transition into life beyond high school. Yesterday’s classrooms are not physically or logistically equipped with tools to ready our students for jobs of the future. Our children are digital natives. Teaching and learning in today’s classrooms must be engaging. We would use these monies to put technology tools into the hands of our students now as we prepare them for the digital world of today as well as tomorrow.
We are blessed to have strong schools, made possible by a local community that recognizes the importance of public education – a community that, in spite of decreasing state and federal resources and additional legislative constraints, believes our children deserve quality public education.
This is the only question on the ballot for voters in areas of our county that don’t have municipal elections – that makes it even more important for all of us to go to the polls to show our support for our children and their future. For me the question is simple – I believe that high quality public education is the foundation of economic sustainability and the long-term success of our children. Voting yes for the 1â„4-cent sales tax affords all of us an opportunity to show that we fully support our community’s investment in both.
Donna Coffey
Chair, Orange County Board of Education