Vote yes for schools
Published 12:48 pm Tuesday, January 19, 2010
On Feb. 9, our community will vote on school levies. This is our biennial opportunity to reaffirm who we are, a community that puts the education of our children first.
As everyone knows, the past few years have not been good ones for the funding of public schools. State support, already in a 30-year decline, dropped dramatically with the economic crisis. Only the Herculean effort of our Schools Foundation and federal Recovery Act dollars saved MISD from significant cuts in the number of teachers we can employ. For next year, the prediction is for another $1 million cut to our budget. We are a fortunate community. We can afford to offset some of these losses. The proposed levies will do that.
Asked to vote for levies, my first question would be, is our district managing the money it has wisely? In my four years on the School Board, I made district finances one of my priorities. I am writing to assure my community that their tax dollars are being spent wisely. Here are a few examples.
Even before the 2008 financial crisis, Superintendent Plano had made the delivery of education his priority. Soon after he was hired, he cut one administrative position at each of our schools, putting the money saved into more educational staff.
In the levies which the voters approved two years ago, there was substantial money for teacher professional development. This is money that makes our already good teachers even better. This investment is consistent with the repeated statements of our citizens in community forums that attracting and training the best possible teachers is their first priority for the district.
When the crisis hit, Liz Ziara — on our bright financial staff — recognized an opportunity to save the district money. She proposed — and the board approved — refinancing several of our outstanding bonds. Because of two decades of prudent fiscal management, MISD has the highest credit rating possible in Washington state. With lenders desperate to ensure the return of their money, we refinanced at substantially lower interest rates. That decision saved the district $80,000 a year.
In the depths of the crisis, Superintendent Plano worked with building leaders to allocate funding cuts that were unavoidable. Principals worked with their staffs to make cuts that had the least possible impact on the classroom. The district managed the first year of the crisis prudently and avoided significant cuts in teachers. If any of the proposed levies fail, that will not be possible this year. Please join me in voting yes for the MISD levies and reaffirming our community character.
John DeVleming
2005-2009 School Board Director
