Community cannot afford to shoot down levy

This year may well be the year the "let's destroy public education and then rebuild it in Bonner County" folks have their way.

Failure of the Feb. 24 replacement levy will have that type of nuclear bomb impact on the quality of education our students receive in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

Before we go on, let's be clear. If the $10.9 million replacement levy passes, your tax bill will not go up and, in fact, the portion allocated to public education will go down next year. It's a replacement levy, not a new levy. It's also not a permanent levy, as some have speculated.

Let's consider what will happen if the $10.9 million replacement levy fails:

- One fifth of school district employees will be let go; that would be 53 certified and 47 classified staff. Even if the levy passes, the district is already being forced to cut 18 teachers and 17 classified staffers because of being shorted more than $1 million from the state. What would that do to our unemployment rate and the local economy?

- Extracurricular activities will cease to be funded and will stop. No Bulldog sports. No Wampus Cat sports. No band, choir or anything other than the basics. Remember, those classes will be overfilled with students because of massive layoffs.

Maybe it is a good thing the county is looking at expanding its juvenile detention capacity. With all of that free time on their hands, this area could easily become the teenage pregnancy and graffiti capital of Idaho.

Some people believe the consequences above are just idle threats or the school district's way of playing chicken with the public. All a person has to do is understand that the funding for public schools in Idaho is broken at best and criminal at worst. The state has been daring voters to revolt for years with its indifference to adequate funding. The funding system has been challenged by this school district and others but it is a hot potato that neither our legislators nor our Supreme Court has dealt with.

Even in flush years, Idaho's funding for students ranks around 47th or 48th in the nation. In tough years like now, Idaho is not going to climb.

This is a terrible time for a levy vote. The county, Sandpoint and Ponderay are all mulling tax measures of their own.

Some have said extracurricular activities should be paid for by the students and parents … or local businesses. I have news for you on that front, local businesses and parents already give a lot and most businesses I know don't have a lot of extra money right now to fund coaches or purchase uniforms.

So will this be the election that will force public education here to collapse and somehow rebuilt in the future? Or will this be the year the public comes forward and resoundingly says it recognizes the importance of a well-rounded education?

Will this be the election where the students who are unlucky enough to be in the school district right now will not get the type of education we received? Or will this be the year that we tell ourselves there is no good time to run a replacement levy vote, but that civic pride and community pride dictate that I stand up for students who are unlucky enough to be caught in the middle of all this? Who paid for your public education?

This is the year to look at ourselves and our communities in the mirror and to take stock of what we value. This is also a good time go be informed and ask the district officials hard questions.

We have seen proactive cost-cutting measures in this district. We have witnessed this district provide a quality education even while being cut off at the knees.

This vote could very well be the most important challenge to ever face our school district. It's not a time to vote based on rumors or half-truths, it is time to cast an informed vote.

With the above evidence in mind and much more, we urge all eligible voters to vote yes for the replacement levy on Feb. 24.

David Keyes

Daily Bee publisher