Today is the day where our trustees decide if voters should get to decide if and how much taxes should increase to support kids.
To me, it is a no brainer.
No, I'm not talking about the TRE itself. I'm talking about letting voters decide if they want it or not. Other people have already done a better job than I can at explaining the TRE and it's parts. Of course, I plan to fumble through the specifics at some point in the near future, but more funding for early childhood, teacher compensation, and early college programs is a good thing. It seems that most people are on board with the first two with some folks being split on funding early college beyond current levels.
That's why we have votes. That's why it's cool that you can pick your taxes in a more a la carte way (depending on how they put it on the ballot). Vote for the parts you like don't for the ones you hate. Seems simple enough right? Wrong.
I understand the argument that people aren't paying enough attention to make informed decisions so the board has to block things that we don't feel like we can deliver on or fully understand. In theory, that makes sense. The problem is that when it came to charter schools, that was the main criticism, adults making decisions for other adults without consultation. If the city council or the mayor or some other elected official somehow decided that the people would be better off without one of our trustees and unilaterally replaced them, there would be a riot on Ross.
Sometimes people are wrong. In fact, most of the time people are wrong. Like it or not, adults have the right to be uninformed, unenthusiastic, selfish, mean, etc. Put it to the people and then do what you do during election season. Stand in front of the polling location and yell your opinion at the few people that show up to cast their ballots. There will be more people to yell at since we'll have a presidential election so it will be more fun for you anyway.
It will be a tough fight either way. The bond election last year and the power of misinformation will play a part. There are plenty of people that think we should have used the bond money for the things the TRE seeks to fund even though that would have been legally impossible. There are people that don't trust our trustees. There are people that don't trust our superintendent. There are people that don't care because the kids don't look like them and their own kids aren't in the district. There are people that have no kids and only care about their taxes. There are plenty of people that feel the exact opposite of all of those things. That's what makes the conversation and the campaigns worth having.
Put it on the ballot.
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No, I'm not talking about the TRE itself. I'm talking about letting voters decide if they want it or not. Other people have already done a better job than I can at explaining the TRE and it's parts. Of course, I plan to fumble through the specifics at some point in the near future, but more funding for early childhood, teacher compensation, and early college programs is a good thing. It seems that most people are on board with the first two with some folks being split on funding early college beyond current levels.
That's why we have votes. That's why it's cool that you can pick your taxes in a more a la carte way (depending on how they put it on the ballot). Vote for the parts you like don't for the ones you hate. Seems simple enough right? Wrong.
I understand the argument that people aren't paying enough attention to make informed decisions so the board has to block things that we don't feel like we can deliver on or fully understand. In theory, that makes sense. The problem is that when it came to charter schools, that was the main criticism, adults making decisions for other adults without consultation. If the city council or the mayor or some other elected official somehow decided that the people would be better off without one of our trustees and unilaterally replaced them, there would be a riot on Ross.
Sometimes people are wrong. In fact, most of the time people are wrong. Like it or not, adults have the right to be uninformed, unenthusiastic, selfish, mean, etc. Put it to the people and then do what you do during election season. Stand in front of the polling location and yell your opinion at the few people that show up to cast their ballots. There will be more people to yell at since we'll have a presidential election so it will be more fun for you anyway.
It will be a tough fight either way. The bond election last year and the power of misinformation will play a part. There are plenty of people that think we should have used the bond money for the things the TRE seeks to fund even though that would have been legally impossible. There are people that don't trust our trustees. There are people that don't trust our superintendent. There are people that don't care because the kids don't look like them and their own kids aren't in the district. There are people that have no kids and only care about their taxes. There are plenty of people that feel the exact opposite of all of those things. That's what makes the conversation and the campaigns worth having.
Put it on the ballot.
Follow us on Facebook; Twitter; iTunes; Soundcloud; Stitcher
Related Articles:
Dallas ISD Politics of Change
***New*** Dallas Education Podcast - Theater Arts with Carlee Cagle
Dallas ISD News and Politics Rundown - August Week 2
***NEW*** Dallas ISD TRE - Eric Celeste
Dallas ISD TRE, 13 Cents - Bethany Erickson
Don't know what to do with your summer? Fun City Stuff Will Help
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