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# Public education must be a priority for residents
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/public-education-must-be-a-priority-for-residents/
- Published: 2002-10-31T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:50:14.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Malibu, #archive-import

*By Wayne and Dixie Harding Family*

Our family represents three generations of graduates from Santa Monica High School, beginning in 1945 all the way through to 2001\. As in all families, we have our disagreements. However, when it comes to the passage of Measure EE, you will find us in total agreement. As a community, it is crucial that we sustain our public school system and our students. Measure EE deserves our support.

We have been beneficiaries of our fine public school system. However, we have also witnessed the difficulties in maintaining that excellence with the ongoing budget difficulties and lack of adequate funding from the state of California. We remember when California was among the leaders in the United States in per pupil spending. We lament that California now ranks 38th in per pupil spending with an allocation approximately $1,000 per student less than the national average. Measure EE will help close the gap in funding.

We have been fortunate to receive a great foundation from our education in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Members of our family have attended Madison, Roosevelt, McKinley, Grant and Will Rogers Elementary Schools. We have attended both John Adams and Lincoln Middle Schools and Samohi. We are proud to include three college graduates, two current college students, a graduate of UCLA Law School as well as a family member that earned his Doctorate in Marine Biology from Stanford University, who is now a research professor at the University of Maryland.

Our family has also benefited greatly from the athletic and music programs in the district, and at Samohi in particular. We are concerned that these excellent programs may suffer if Measure EE is not passed, and that these programs will only become available to those who can afford it. Our extracurricular programs must be available to all students, not just those families that have the means to purchase instruments or pay transportation fees.

Even though we are not anxious to increase the amount of taxes we pay, the investment in our community is well worth the extra cost. $300 per year is a small amount to pay when weighed against the social costs we all pay when our educational system is not funded adequately enough to educate all members of our community. We believe that the health of our economic system depends upon quality education for all of our children, equal opportunity being a key American value that is critical to our economic success as well as our health as a society.

We want our district to continue reducing class sizes in all grades. We support the efforts to increase security on our campuses and provide well-maintained facilities. We want to continue to attract and retain outstanding teachers, as they are the key to our success.

We support the taxpayer safeguards included in Measure EE. Measure EE provides for an independent Financial Oversight Committee to monitor the district’s compliance. An annual independent audit is required and will be made available to the public.

We have long recognized the value and importance to our community of an outstanding public school system. As lifelong residents of the city, we believe that our Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District deserves to have our support in providing adequate funding to facilitate the best education possible for ALL of our students.

We urge you to vote YES on Measure EE on Nov. 5.

L. Wayne Harding, SAMOHI, ’45 Dixie Harding, SAMOHI, ’45 Christopher Harding, SAMOHI, ’70 Mark Harding, SAMOHI, ’73 Debbie (Cobo) Harding, SAMOHI, ’74 Stacey Harding, SAMOHI, ’99 Stephanie Harding, SAMOHI, ’01

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 31, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/103102.pdf?ref=smdp.com)