Voters reject referendum

Voters yesterday in West Bend have resoundingly made their voices heard - the $119.3 school referendum was too much for the taxpayers to bear. Many other large referenda in other Wisconsin school districts have failed in recent years. In what has become a sometimes disturbing trend, the voting public has said learned, and learned well, to say NO each time an increase in spending is proposed, even if the proposed spending is for capital projects. What happened in West Bend was expected by many, but it does shine a light on the terrible way we fund schools.

Pitting property tax owners against schools is a bad idea. While I wholly support the "idea" of revenue caps and the like, it is apparent that after 15 years of the current school funding formula, it does not work for many of the districts in our state. Don't other states fund their schools without forcing Grandma from her home?

Why can't the legislature come up with a better way - a more equitable way of funding education?

How about eliminating the sales tax exemptions and using that money to fund the schools?

Business leaders across the state complain that there aren't enough skilled workers for their businesses. Guess what, we have institutions to take care of these kinds of problems - they're called schools!

We need to move away from the "factory school" mentality, and start making sure our children are ready for the real world. Tech academies in the high schools, technology in elementary schools...

But folks, this costs money, and asking already overburdened homeowners to pony up more cash isn't working anywhere. We need a different and better way of funding our schools - people should not be forced to choose between their homes and better schools for the children of their community.

All eyes look to West Bend

All eyes will be on West Bend tomorrow, as voters will turn out to vote in what will be the state's largest school referendum to date. I imagine there will be some here in our neck of the woods who will be VERY interested in the results.

"Why would that be?" you might ask. Well, let me tell you. With over $70 MILLION dollars in BASIC repairs for the 34 buildings in RUSD, and a complete overhaul of all buildings at an estimated $375 MILLION, RUSD may soon be asking voters to ante-up for its aging infrastructure.

Nothing against West Bend, but I cannot fathom that their buildings are as in bad of shape as many of the schools in the Racine area. If you do not believe me, please make an appointment to take a tour of Walden, Red Apple, Janes or any other RUSD school built in the 19th century.

If some of these schools were rental properties, I seriously believe they would be condemned and the landlord thrown in jail.

So tomorrow, ALL of us (both the anti-tax crowd and the educational establishment) in Racine will be watching and taking notes, so when our time comes around, we will know how to answer.