“Should the schools have a set amount of money put aside every year or should the discretion be left up to the City Council?”
Here are your responses: ■ “I am very much opposed to educating children under the pretense of money, money, money. The Council already gave the schools $3 million. Then, they gave another $2.5 million. DZ now wants to incorporate all the fundraising programs toward the schools. What about children from other cities? What about the students that are bused in from other districts? Shouldn’t these families contribute to the City of Santa Monica? Do they not have a responsibility to our city? Santa Monica is not a fat cow anymore. The City Council should be concerned about re-election in November. They are biased in more ways than one. They are partial to certain groups and care very little about the citizens and the students.” ■ “The money for the schools should be set aside because the City Council will just waste it tearing up perfectly good streets or end up spending it on the bums.” ■ “I think the schools should definitely have some money set aside. However, you never, never leave it to the discretion of this City Council. We have the worst City Council in the United States as far as I’m concerned and we shouldn’t trust them with one penny. To leave anything up to them would be a real bad thing.” ■ “No, this proposal does not belong in the City charter. Besides being questionable on other grounds, it seems to me illegal that Santa Monica citizens should have to foot the bill for schools in another, much wealthier city.” ■ “I don’t think we would need any extra money if we didn’t have so many kids bused in to our school system. They don’t live here, but we should pay for them to be educated here? When my children were small, they had to go to the local school. There were no other options. I have to say that I wish there were schools all over the country that were safe for all kids. I don’t think I should have to pay for a few hundred kids to learn in my area.” ■ “Considering that the state of California earmarks money for the schools through Proposition 98, it hardly seems like a bad idea for the City of Santa Monica to do the same. It will be a comfort knowing that the money is there.” ■ “Definitely, the discretion should be left up to the City Council as to how much money should be put aside every year for schools. The idea that an amount of money should be guaranteed per year when no money will be guaranteed to the Council is ludicrous. The schools will probably be asking for escalators next.” ■ “I believe that schools should have a set amount of money put aside per year. It should not be left to the whims of a City Council that has it’s own political agenda. It is not the city’s fine treatment of the homeless that keeps nice families moving to Santa Monica. I believe it is the schools that make the community. If we want to keep the families here, we better keep the schools at the high quality level the people are accustomed to.” ■ “The district relies on money from the City Council. My children have been in school for five years and the money is desperately needed. We moved here because Santa Monica funds their own schools. If they did not, the schools would be in terrible shape and property values would plummet. It is in the best interest of the cIty to fund its schools.” ■ “Our schools should have money from the CIty set aside every year. We have an exemplary school system with dedicated teachers and principals. They cannot do the important job of educating our children without this help. They work hard and they deserve our help.” ■ “Someone needs to remind the educators and their supporters that they are only entitled to state-mandated funding for their budgets. It is ludicrous, at best, that the city has ever given them any money at all. There are too many programs and too many people on the payroll to accommodate any budget. The city should not give the schools one red cent.” ■ “The schools should just be allocated that money and the city should not have a word to say about it. If someone asked for this money to help the homeless, they’d hand it right over. Allocate funds to anything but the schools. (Council) want their fingers in everybody’s pie. GIve it to the schools and let them figure out where to put it.” ■ “In regards to the officials at City Hall, I think it’s about time they all hit their recliners. They wont clean up the City and now they want to steal from our schools. What could possibly be next?”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 16, 2004. Read the original PDF.