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This letter was submitted to The Redmond Spokesman in October 2002 Ballots will soon be in the hands of voters so this is probably a good time to summarize the cases for and against the Redmond school bond. I will leave the pro-bond argument to others. The system for paying for schools and other infrastructures caused by growth is unfair and unethical in causing an increase in taxes on the poorest among us. Pro-bond supporters have not even tried to refute this point, which I presume they have conceded. A supporter advocated voting for the bond "because we are family." She must have had Cinderella’s family in mind where one part of the family was favored while another was abused. Unfortunately, our Cinderellas don’t have fairy godmothers and rich princes to relieve them of some of the wretchedness in their lives. While developers were scooping up land on which to build (mostly) houses that would generate more students, school and city officials failed to set land aside for the schools that would eventually and obviously be needed. Prior to it being brought to their attention, school officials were planning to reuse the inefficient plans from existing schools. From an architectural angle we have been told we can’t build on a hill; we need flat ground. There are problems going multi-story. We can’t have gyms and theaters in two-story buildings. To the contrary, residents in Redmond can describe their schools to refute this meretricious nonsense. We are told kids would have to walk across campus to get to other buildings. What is the big deal? I am sure many people in this community had to walk miles just to get to school. And we are supposed to trust these officials? Try spelling out more details and show us plans that would be used so we can determine whether tax money that is voted for the bond will be used judiciously. We have been told about crowded conditions in schools, and I am prepared to accept this as true. However, I do not see this factor as sufficient justification for abandoning the poorest among us to help pay for new schools. The students may have to eat in crowded cafeterias, but they are at least eating. At times that is more than can be said for some people in the Redmond area. If life is on the tough side for students for a while, they may learn lessons that no textbook will teach them. One lesson they could learn is that when community leaders favor one group of people at the expense of another group, eventually the disadvantaged and those that have some compassion for them will rebel. If they are having a problem bumping into fellow students walking in opposite directions in hallways, they might try using a little common sense and borrow from the example of automobiles. Institute a policy of walking on the right side of the hallways. I am surprised at the number of people that volunteer to me that they are going to vote against the bond for reasons that differ from mine. There is a possibility, if not a probability, that the bond will fail. If there is a need for another try, I would suggest that a radical change in attitude will be required from future promoters. If they can’t learn from past mistakes, they should step aside and let others take the lead. As voters we can start by replacing the incumbent representative for District 53 with Cylvia Hayes. See www.cylviahayes.com for her ideas on school funding. Back to Education Home Page Back to Schools Home Page |
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