Here are your responses: “THERE SHOULD BE A MORATORIUM on school funding until the issue of Santa Monicans paying for Malibu’s schools is addressed. This peculiar arrangement is now illegal and should be terminated.”
“THIS ISN’T THE FIRST MEASURE TO ask for taxes and it won’t be the last. As long as they keep wasting money they will keep asking for more.”
“I DISAGREE WITH THE PREMISE THAT the community should support its young. I don’t believe we should be supporting Measure R or any other measure. Diddling with the mechanics is just an exercise in superfluity or extraneousness. The most important thing you can teach a child is responsibility. And that means that parents have to be responsible for raising and educating their own spawn, it is not up to the community to support others’ responsibilities.”
“SOM E TAXPAYERS DON’T HAVE children, some taxpayers never had or plan to have children. The revolving measures being put on the ballot year after year to fund schools that are always begging for money just seems to be a circle of deceit.”
“MEASURE R IS JUST ANOTHER BADLY planned and unfair money grab with waivers for senior homeowners but not for senior renters.”
“MEASURE R IS ABSOLUTELY NEEDED in our two-city area. It will provide steady funding for our schools that are inadequately funded at the state level. It is incumbent on all taxpayers to ensure that our next generation has the opportunities we had and that will only come from local funding for our schools.”
“TAXPAYERS, IF YOU WANT GOOD education we have to pay for good education. I think measure R is good for the area. Good schools are part of what makes our area great. Everybody should support Measure R.”
“I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF LIVING IN a community where people care about having good schools. It makes for a very safe community. Quality of life matters to me and I think it is important that the schools meet high standards for achievement. I’ll be supporting Measure R.”
“IS THERE A TAX IN THIS TOWN THAT the school district doesn’t love? How many dollars do we shovel down this money well? What might be more in keeping with rational thought is cutting off some of the accumulated fat. The school district is bloated with highly-paid know-nothings plus the constant increases in program expansions. Just watch the school board meetings and you’ll understand.”
“I THINK MEASURE R IS INCREDIBLY important to continue essential services in the schools of Santa Monica. State budget cuts are cutting away at the financial support that all public schools need. As much as you fundraise, you always come up short.”
“I F YO U’REAHOM EOWN ERIN Santa Monica you should support Measure R. Education is a major reason why people move to the area. It is a main reason why our property values are so high. Everybody should support this.”
“VOTE NO ON MEASURE R. THE school board bureaucrats will only continue to waste tax payer money. The board of education should be forced to recap where the additional millions paid by bond measures have gone. Does the school board need another $1.5 for its consultants? I think not.” “ THEON LY REALTHINGTH AT separates Santa Monica from being just another suburb is the school system. The fact that the district is so great brings families to Santa Monica, it increases values of housing, it makes it a better climate to live in because there is little to no gang activity. The schools have great programs for taking care of kids. Anybody who votes against this for financial reasons is nuts.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 19, 2008. Read the original PDF.