Levy time again.

I do love this time of year. Here in Ohio, its spring, no wait, its winter, no wait its spring, no winter. 73 degrees on Monday, sunny, warm, the flowers are flowering, the buds are budding, the leaves are leafing and the fauna is fawning. Oh, but Tuesday, its snowing and the high is 41 degrees and the flowers are frowning, the buds are bit%%ing, the leaves are limping and the fauna is floundering. As we say here in the river valley, if you don't like the weather here, wait a minute.

But as fickle as the weather is here in spring/winter/spring, its not the most fickle thing come this time of year. The truly fickle thing would be the voter, its school levy season again.

We live in the largest (by landmass) school district in Ohio. Logically, at least to me, we are one of the fastest growing school districts as well. The Little Miami School District operates at one of the lowest operating millage of any school in Ohio, it is the lowest when compared to other similar schools in the area. They have been frugal with their money, a luxury they have been afforded by the generosity of local parents and businesses who donate and fund a great multitude of things outside the tax system. For example, LMHS has new field turf, this was donated not taken out of their budget. This is just one example. The school district had a levy on the ballot at the last opportunity, an income tax request that failed. Since then they have cut the budget by cutting services and laying off people.

What caused this problem you might wonder, simple answer, the population of the area has gone up, but the new Governor has cut education funding to the district. When costs go up and income goes down it doesn't take long to run into an issue.

What happens if the levy fails again? Simple, the budget gets cut again. There will be a reduction in the number of teachers which means more kids per class and less choices of classes to take. Programs will be eliminated which could hamper the educations of special needs kids and narrow the focus of all the kids. As a good school district pars down it is forced to eliminate all the things that made it a good school district and only leave the state minimum required courses for graduation. That means no upper level classes for the college bound, no extra help for the struggling, all the kids take the same course and make due with that. Services will also get cut, no bus service, less janitorial staff, elimination of maintenance and food staffs, reduction or elimination of support staff like councilors, etc. The length of the school day would also be reduced. Simply stated, the school will function at a minimum level, kind of like a lot of inner city public schools. Schools who don't even let their students take books home because they cant afford to replace them. That's what it could come to.

Now, the last levy, some people voted for it, some voted against. This time, the same thing will happen, some will vote each way. I am going to insert my own plain cold logic here and try to figure out how that happens. You might be thinking the answer is simple, some people just agree and some disagree, right? Well, if you go deeper, its not so simple. Here is my premise:

Absolutely no voter living in the Little Miami School District has ANY valid reason for voting no at this time.

Now, let me prove it to you.

1. First, the Obama voter. If you voted for Obama you have absolutely no choice but to vote for the levy. If you do not, your a fraud. You voted for an ideal, for a mantra, you voted for "Hope and Change" Well that's all fine and dandy, now step up to the plate and open your wallet. What greater hope could we have then hope for the future, a hope that our children and our children's children would grow up in a safe and better place. Today's children are who we have to have hope in, hope to cure cancer, hope to end war, hope to save the whales, hope to end our energy dependence on fossil fuels. Children are the source of hope, for they will inherit the problems and bring about a better future. The children can only fulfill our hopes if they are given the tools to do so, a good, sound, diverse education. Children are the bringers of change. Just think about it, did your life change when you had a child? Of course it did.
2. Second, the Republican voter. Your the ones who believe in a strong competitive education system. A system that allows those who excel to do so to the limits of their ability. You believe its necessary to provide education to the upper limits of a child's ability and provide as many opportunities for diversity in education as possible. Your the ones who want high end math classes and computer labs that teach specific skills. You are also the ones who keep making the promise not to leave any child behind, regardless of how much extra effort that requires because every kid counts. That's all fine and wonderful as well, but that all costs money, step up to the plate and open your wallet. What you believe in ain't free, it has a price and this is how you pay it.
3. Third, the Libertarian voter. You believe in minimal Federal government and minimal Federal interference. You are required to vote for the levy in order to stave off Federal interference and mandates. You are required to vote for the levy in the hope that better educated kids make for better educated voters and more self reliant adults who don't need a Federal government as a nanny. For you, its an investment.
4. Fourth is the parent voter. If your not politically aligned or particularly politically savvy, but your a parent, you have no choice but to vote for the levy. You will do this for your children, they need you to do this and you don't want to deny them any opportunities. You make them do their homework, you feed them, care for them and nurture them in every other way. You groom them with the dream that when they are grown and gone they will have a better, easier, happier, more successful life than you have had. It doesn't matter how happy and successful you are, we all want more for our kids, it is what drives us as parents. If this is you, you know you have made many a sacrifice for your kids, this is just one more really small one so go ahead and do it.
5. Fifth is the empty nester and the young couple, the kid less homers, and the homeschoolers. You all have the same access to the logic, "I don't have a kid in the system so why should I pay for it. " You all have the same issue, but might need addressed a little differently. Most of you either did or might have a kid in the system at some point along the timeline. You should want a good school system to be available even if you chose not to use it, or haven't needed it yet. For the recent empty nester, you kid probably went thru the system and you should want it to stay at least as good as it was when they were there. If neither of these apply, and you haven't had a child in the system and wont (ever) then you still benefit from a good school. How, property values, business opportunities, lower crime rate, the list goes on. You all didn't think of that did you? Its true, the success of your school has a direct impact on your property value, good districts grow, they grow faster than new houses are built which affects that supply and demand causing your value to go up, so if you hate kids vote yes anyway to help yourself. The second thing people miss is that businesses like good school districts too. Why? They like them because it provides them a better pool of labor to work with, better schools usually have better parents who produce better, more responsible kids, all of which are attractive to businesses. As for the lower crime rates, uneducated areas with teens home more because of reduced school hours leads to a higher crime rate and a reduction in property values. If you are in this group you need to vote for the levy for your own good, or the good of the community you now enjoy.
6. Sixth, "But I cant afford it." You cant afford not to.
7. Seventh, the Christian. You need to send your Christian child out into the system. You need to fight to bring prayer back into the school from the inside. You need to let your offspring go forth and be the Light of Jesus in the community of their peers. You also need to give to Caesar what is Caesars and pay the tax.
8. Eighth, the Parochial school parent. You send your kid to a private school because the local district either isn't good enough or doesn't have something you want or need. That's a fine and acceptable choice, as long as you don't think it exempts you from participating with the rest of us. More funding will keep the school district as is, a fine district, even more funding might get you that extra thing your looking for that would allow your kid to go to the public school and save you a wad of jack. No, well look at the other side, if you assist in the decline of the district then more of us will join you in the parochial system which will effect the supply and demand equation causing tuition to rise and thus costing you more money. Its a lose lose for you, so help out the rest of us and cast a vote for the levy.
9. Ninth, and the last one (I promise,) is the SLOTH. SLOTH is an acronym for Stupid Lazy Obnoxious Thoughless Heathen. If your a SLOTH you cant manage to motivate yourself to get off your lard behind to vote because you might miss some gem of wisdom from Oprah or Judge Judy. Trust me the World will still be Turning tomorrow, you wont miss a thing. Your not smart enough to know this issue has long term effect on your quality of life. No really, it does. Your obnoxious enough to vote it down just because that neighbor you don't like down the street has kids and it might make them happy. You enjoy kicking puppies and putting gum in little girls hair. You delight in graffiti so you would like to see more of it pop up on neighborhood houses. You point and laugh as your neighbors loose their homes one by one and leave your street full of empty homes that go unsold. You rent so it doesn't affect you anyway, but you relish causing misery in others. You just think its all about you. Why should you vote for the levy then? I did say that every one should, so to keep my premise true, why is it a good idea for you to be a good citizen and vote for it? Well, if you don't I will call homeland security and tell them about the pipe bomb your working on and how you keep your AK47 buried in the back yard with your copy of the Koran this is personally autographed by Osama himself. When they come to visit you they will find all that European porn on your computer and hall you off to jail. So, please don't be a SLOTH. I might even have to call you mother, she would be so disappointed to find out you changed your name from Bob to Betty.

And for those of you with a more critical eye, my poor grammar and bad spelling is a direct result of my having graduated from an under funded school district in decline.