Consider a No vote on Proposition R

By J. Dyer

Once again the public school bureaucracy is asking us for more of our money. Instead of prioritizing their needs and putting their generous funding to better use, they want more. They imply their efforts are all about the children, but it is really all about the bureaucracy.

They want to redistribute your wealth into their pockets so they don’t have to make too many changes to the system. I suggest we require them to redistribute the wealth they already have received from us and put that redistribution toward the children and facilities placed in their care.

The school district recently sent out a political flyer supporting Proposition R. The flyer boasted of district awards and performance. I called the school district office to see if I could get clarification on the statistics they put in the flyer. I wanted to know more about test scores, more about the awards they claimed to receive, and I wanted to hear from them directly why they felt more money was the solution to their problems. I left a message asking them to call me to discuss this information. I received no call back.

I went to the California Department of Education website to see if I could check their assertions. According to the political flyer, the Ramona school district (this includes nine schools) received several awards. What you did find on the website is that a few of the schools in the district were recognized for some type of accomplishment or potential for accomplishment over the last several years. It does not appear that all schools were recognized for merit. By the flyer’s own admission, 25 percent of the district schools don’t seem to meet the minimum scores the state considers acceptable.

According to the California Department of Education website, the Ramona school district appears to get over $8,000 per year per student. You can buy a lot of quality private education for that high price tag, and that private education would not have to include the contemporary socialist and politically correct propaganda required in public school education. Do you really want your property taxed another $100 to $300 (or more) each year to give an average performing bureaucracy more money?

If you are a renter, you don’t escape the tax increase. All residents will have their housing costs increased if Proposition R passes. Please don’t agree to another tax increase on yourselves. You pay enough already!

Had they called me back, the district would have probably told me that their performance and infrastructure problems are caused by us not giving them enough money—as their flyer implies. I don’t believe it, and I don’t want to give hundreds of dollars more each year to a school district with a seemingly marginal performance record. Getting over $8,000/year/student should be enough for all district schools to meet the minimum target scores and to maintain appropriate buildings and equipment.

The district needs to use its generous budget more prudently instead of asking us to give more from our personal budgets. The district is avoiding the difficult task of redirecting more of its ample funding to maintain a proper learning environment for students. They would rather you do the more difficult task of giving them more from your limited budgets.

Tell them you’ve given them enough.

Please consider voting No on Proposition R.

J. Dyer is a Ramona resident.