By Don Gray Santa Monica Bill Bauer Santa Monica Mathew L. Millen Santa Monica
If Prop. EE fixed the problems plaguing our Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District it would deserve your vote. But it doesn’t.
It throws good money after bad — in fact it quadruples the Parcel Tax increase you just passed in 2000. If EE passes, you’ll pay $498 in parcel taxes — on top of payments for $300,000,000 in school and college bonds.
And with this $300 increase, school board representatives opted for a ballot taxation option that was 50 percent larger than needed. Their rationale? You wouldn’t notice the difference.
Recommendations to make the school district more efficient and responsible were developed two years ago. Since then, none of them have been instituted! However, the district has opted to waste money on such boondoggles as hiring a public relations officer at $100,000 a year.
Yearly deficits, raises for administrators, bond construction disasters, bogus public opinion polls, legally suspect home loans to administrators and unrealistic promises to teachers — this is how they’ve been spending funds for our children’s education!
Despite our student’s needs, none of the proposed additional funding is slated to deal with the problems such as racial profiling and discrimination, nonresident permit preference, resistance to off-hour playground access or the cost overruns for campus improvements.
Contrary to district claims, there is money available: The City of Santa Monica’s budget is over $370,000,000 this year. A reduction in the millions spent on nonresident “services” to outsiders and making the City of Malibu pay their fair share for the school services they utilize would solve our school’s financial problems without heavier tax burdens or pass-along rent hikes for tenants.
Doesn’t it make more sense to mandate real school reform first and demand our city support our schools rather than indulge and reward ongoing district mismanagement? Show them they’re wrong.
Vote “NO” in Proposition EE!
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 19, 2003. Read the original PDF.