Kids and teachers worth your support

My name is Mike Turnlund and I am a teacher at Clark Fork High School. I would like to share my thoughts about the upcoming levy.

I am excited about being a teacher at Clark Fork High School. It is a dynamic environment for both teachers and students. The staff is well-trained and enthusiastic and this is reflected in each of the classrooms, as well as student achievement. For anyone who has taken the opportunity to find out, Clark Fork students are very successful.

But, in honesty, we do operate on the financial edge. There is never enough money for all the supplies needed for a rich learning environment.

Therefore, I routinely spend money out-of-pocket for common classroom supplies. Why? The money simply isn't there.

As is common among teachers across the district, I would personally rather bear the costs for these supplies than ask my students to go without them. Unfortunately, this dearth of funding is also reflected in the outdated textbooks and broken equipment we must contend with daily. This upcoming levy won't even begin to address any of these pressing needs in my classrooms.

Lake Pend Oreille School District is a bargain. At the current tax assessment rate, the cost for supporting LPOSD is only 22 percent of the state average ($69 per $100,000 assessed value versus $310). Compare this to the $234 rate in Boundary County and the $112 for the Coeur d'Alene School District, and you might agree that we are not only affordable but even under-funded. The proposed levy brings the rate up to only $90.

I have been a taxpayer in Bonner County far longer than I've been a teacher, so I understand the financial cost of maintaining the school district. So it is with this in mind that I encourage all voters, and taxpayers, to please vote yes for the upcoming school levy. Our kids and teachers are worth it.

MIKE TURNLUND

Sandpoint