TODAY AS WE GO TO THE POLLS TO VOTE, we will decide an issue of immense importance, we will be determining an issue that will echo for years. Our meager efforts here will be felt for generations — no, I’m not speaking of Hillary v. Obama, but rather of Measure R.
This is the local measure that is on the ballot to determine whether or not property owners will continue to fund the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District with a special parcel tax. The measure is important because we as a society are better served by having excellent schools.
Better schools are important because they translate into better educated people, and the more educated the populace, the better society we have.
I have mixed feelings about Measure R.As a homeowner, I would really like to not have to shoulder the burden of greater taxes, which is what this is, call an assessment, a user fee or a “convenience fee”,at the end of the day it is a tax that I have to pay in order to keep my home.
As a single man with no children,and none in the foreseeable future, frankly schools are not the first place that I want to spend my money. However, I have to interact with people all day long. They are the cashier at Starbucks, the plumber, the roofer and carpet layer.They are my clients and my compatriots.
Because they play a role in my life, and I in theirs, I recognize that it is an investment in the future good of our society.
I also like the fact that good schools help with property values. Not that there is really any danger of property values in Santa Monica or Malibu dropping drastically, but the fact that we have great schools helps keep the values up, and that translates into a more stable society.
Measure R keeps the current assessment at $346 per parcel, adjusted upwards for the Consumer Price Index. It is a combination of Measures S and Y, and re-incorporates them. The Measure is supported by a host of Santa Monica Luminaries — Dr. Michael Gruning, Tom Larmore, Esq., and Dennis Zane all support the measure.
Those opposed say that it is rewarding bad management, that the school board writes checks it can’t cash and then comes to the voters for more money. This may or may not be true, but since I don’t have the time or the energy to devote to scrutinizing each and every act the school board does, I’m going to err on the side of caution and say that they are overall doing a decent job.
There are changes that I would like to see in the school system. I would love to see more trades represented. I would like to see more people realize, and accept the fact that all kids are not designed for college, and that by telling them they are, we are in fact doing them a disservice. We are setting people up for low self-esteem when they wash out, or can’t make it. We are creating a society that has an undercurrent of resentment by the have-nots, against the haves, not because of the differences in the balance sheet, but in the unmet expectations that we have unfairly created. We will be better off when we recognize the differences and accept them, and let each person develop their strengths.
My law partner is a 135 pounds. He has a 28 inch waist, and has not gained an ounce since he graduated college. I am a barrel chested bear of a man, I once had a 28 inch waist, and will in all likelihood, barring a fatal case of cancer, never see 28 inches again. I can spend my days pining for the 28 waist, bemoaning how unfair it is that I have to watch what I eat and work out in order to maintain some semblance of height and weight proportion, while my partner never does a sit up; or I can recognize the difference and move on. I can put on muscle by barely trying, he can’t. C’est la vie.
We need to be aware that people have different makeups. Some will go on to Harvard, Duke, UCLA and even Notre Dame. Some will go to Santa Monica College and some will go to trade schools. We need all of them in our society, and we would serve them better by recognizing that the differences are not bad, but necessary. We should have programs in place to let them explore whether or not they want to be carpenters, mechanics, welders, painters or artists, chefs or beauticians.
But all of it starts by having good schools.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 5, 2008. Read the original PDF.