Taxes are the membership fees we pay to maintain a civilized society
Just who is Albert Berriz, treasurer of “Citizens for a responsible Washtenaw -anti millage group?” What are his educational leadership qualifications?
It sounds to me that he's a “right-winger.” He reminds me of the Business Round Table members who have, over the years, done all they could to bash public schools, with a goal to eventually eliminate public education. An easy way to do this is with false accusations, fear, negativity and bullying schools into operating a viable program with insufficient money.
Taxes are the membership fees we pay to maintain a civilized society. Our public schools are the foundation of our democracy. Lack of money threatens to undermine our nation's strengths of creativity and innovation of our successful educational system.
Numerous reports on funding public schools have called for structural reforms, but none of the reports have called for less revenue for public schools. We need to find innovative ways to pay for what we value in our public schools. We need to restore confidence in our schools and to support our excellent teachers and local school boards. An educated citizenry is a requisite in a democracy. June A. Rusten Ann Arbor
Comments
Bill Wilson
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 10:51 a.m.
" Sure! As soon as I get a refund for the $932 billion that Bush spent on the wars in Iraq and Afganistan ($700B of that in Iraq alone for a meaningless war.)." Bush spent? Unless I missed the memo, Congress still controls the purse strings of the nation, and both parties viewed the evidence at the time, and voted to authorize the war in Iraq. Looks like that hot Texas sun has muddled your memory skills.
Diagenes
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 8:58 a.m.
Blake, I hope there is a republican "mastermind" in Lansing. If there was one I am sure the outcome would be better than the democrat "mastermind" who has been blowing us away for the last 7 years. We all want a first class education system with measurable outcomes. We do not currently have one and it makes no sense to increase the funding for the one we have.
DonBee
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 8:46 a.m.
Blake - Maybe I can not read the newspaper, but 2/3 of the cuts were done by the Governor after the House and Senate had passed a bill that included the money. Last I checked the Governor was not a Republican. Everyone is Lansing is to blame for this mess. Not just one party. The state is messed up, there is a lot of painful change that will have to happen to get us back on track. There is no magic answer. You may be willing to pay more taxes, others are not. I am not a Republican and I don't vote Republican. My township (Superior) is heavily Democratic - the Republicans don't even bother to run candidates, yet it voted against the millage. We are all in this together and we need to figure out how to change the tax structure, the benefit structure for all state and local workers (See Rep Dillon (D) suggestions) and more. If we keep blaming one group for the problems we will never succeed. I for one want to be part of the solution. I hope you do too.
DonBee
Tue, Nov 17, 2009 : 12:35 a.m.
Taxes were a big part of the reason that the Revolution happened. I am not advocating a revolution, not in the least, but taxes move money from one group of people to another group of people, when the taxes rise too high, the people who are contributing have a tendency to move. I agree some reasonable level of taxes are required. Taxes should be fair to everyone, based on some formula for ability to pay. When people's ability to pay change, then there should be a reasonable way to change the taxes. We have a lot of people who have lost pension and health care benefits in the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies. We have others who have watched their jobs disappear to China or nowhere. The teacher's pay was tied to the rest of the unions in the state. The UAW supported (as did their employers) wonderful wages. We will all miss that money. The reality for too many families is that the money is not there to support yet more taxes, not even the end run by the county board. We spend more per student than any other G-8 country, but we do not rank at the top of the G-8 for student test scores, literacy or other reasonable measures. More money is not the answer. I am not smart enough to know the answer, but business as usual, spending more than $4000 a student outside the classroom on overhead is not sustainable. On this we can agree, reasonable and fair taxes are the membership fee for our society. Where we disagree is on what is fair or reasonable. Since you are curriculm consultant, I can understand how the millage might impact your household income. I am sorry it has a direct impact on you.
Michael K.
Mon, Nov 16, 2009 : 8:43 p.m.
Q: "Can I "opt-out" of the membership fee?" Sure! As soon as I get a refund for the $932 billion that Bush spent on the wars in Iraq and Afganistan ($700B of that in Iraq alone for a meaningless war.) This might be of interest: "Taxpayers in Ann Arbor, Michigan have paid $289 million for total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending since 2001." For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided: * 4,085 Elementary School Teachers for One Year, or * 408 Elementary School Teachers per year for 10 years, 2001-2011 Guess that would pretty much take care of the problem, wouldn't it?
Diagenes
Mon, Nov 16, 2009 : 8:18 p.m.
Most intelligent people do not object to paying taxes to support government services that are an apporpriate function of government. We also want schools and police departments ect. to be run efficiently and use our money wisely. When we lose faith that our money is not being used wisely we need to withhold it until things change. After all the people are in control of the government not the other way around.
groland
Mon, Nov 16, 2009 : 12:28 p.m.
June, I agree that we need great schools, but we also need a reasonable tax base. If property taxes are too high, and they already are higher in Ann Arbor than most places around the country, then we will loose residents. Indeed, we loose those residents who are most mobile and can find jobs elsewhere, precisely those we need to keep. In the end, schools and county employees need to readjust their own priorities. How many of us in the private sector can retire after 30 years with full pensions and benefits? The legacies costs for older communities are astounding. This is the same problem GM has.
Jim Mulchay
Mon, Nov 16, 2009 : 8:20 a.m.
It is interesting to note that in the last month or so ann arbor.com has run articles about the Ann Arbor police telling the a business group they cannot afford to have a larger presence due to budget cuts. We also have one Ann Arbor fire station closed for several years and another closure or layoffs for the fire department under discussion. Not all tax money goes to schools.
John Galt
Sun, Nov 15, 2009 : 2:28 p.m.
Can I "opt-out" of the membership fee? It seems membership does not have many advantages. Government needs to learn to spend within it's means. Just like everyone else. We cannot answer every problem with tax increases. I certainly do not want to work 12 months of the year to be a member of the club. Currently, I work about 5 months a year and get very little in return. Except to be called a "right winger" by those who collect their paychecks from my taxes.
TruBlue
Sun, Nov 15, 2009 : 2:06 p.m.
June what do you think this membership fee should be? Whatever the schools ask for without question or oversight? Doesn't sound like much of a democracy if I don't get a say in how my money is spent.
stunhsif
Sun, Nov 15, 2009 : 8:20 a.m.
June, Almost no one wants to get rid of public schools. What we do want is them being run efficiently and with transparency. The easiest way to reduce runaway costs increases and not hurt "the kids" is to reform the benefit packages and put them in line with what the private sector gets.