Suffer with the rest of us
Posted by BrianMadison City Schools superintendent Dee Fowler offered up one of my favorite selfish arguments that government bureaucrats - typically in education - love to use.
For Fowler, a smaller state education budget justifies a tax base for schools not fueled by sales tax revenue, which drops during economic downturns.
He said property taxes should drive school funding because they are more stable.
“It’s not fair to compile a budget so tied to economic factors,” Fowler said.
And just why isn’t that fair, Dee? When the economy slows down real people feel the pain. Real people make less money (or inflation diminishes their purchasing power - same end difference) and they buy less. How is it fair to them to have their taxes pegged to more static property taxes that would eat up a greater share of their income during tough economic times while you guys don’t share in the pain? What makes the government run schools so special that they should be immune to widespread suffering during unsteady economic times?
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May 25th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Brian,
I would like to know if you are a product of a “government run school” and what exactly is your beef with “government run schools.”
May 27th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Why do you put “government run schools” in quotes as though you’re skeptical? Do you not know who operates public schools? Even the question on the Madison County ballot on June 3rd for raising our sales taxes says “the money collected from the sales tax increase will be used for government-run schools.”