Tax without end, amen
When I opened the mailbox yesterday, I was a little surprised to discover some election porn sitting there. Is there an election coming up, I thought, and I missed it?
I brought the mailer inside and looked at it more closely, and then I realzed that this wasn't about an upcoming election. Or at least it purported not to be. Instead, it was the Portland board of education thanking me for voting for property tax increases for their bond issues over the years. It's "for the children," don'tcha know.
I had to laugh a little. I haven't voted yes for one of those things for years. The Portland public schools lose enrollment every year, but the taxes they collect go up and up and up without fail. The voters of Portland never say no to them. Then the hipsters wonder why their rent keeps going up. Duh! The property tax increases are immediately passed on by the landlords to the tenants. This is what is known as "vibrancy."
Anyway, I'm sure that all the while the public school bureaucrats are busy wasting public money to thank me for passing $1.4 billion (not a typo) in tax increases, they're getting yet another one ready. And this "thank you" is just a warmup for the next sales job. Despite their come-ons, I'll be voting no again, if I'm unfortunate enough to still be paying taxes in Portland when the time comes.
Meanwhile, boy, look at what they're bragging about spending the money on. Classroom locks, alarm systems, and security cameras. What next? A machine gun for every teacher? This flyer is a bummer on more levels than one.
How does spending money correct classroom behavior?
ReplyDeleteWhat's time to a hog?
DeleteWhat’s dynamite dope to the Pope, what’s money to a dog?
DeletePPS is planning to put another capital bond on the November, 2024 ballot. It is expected to be at least as large as the previous $1.2B bond.
ReplyDeletePortland Public Schools' website states that it has 45,456 students, including students in public charter schools, virtually the same number that the district had in 1920 (45,279 students). It hit a high of 79,571 in 1963, stayed at about that level through 1969, then lost a third of its students from 1969 to 1979, dropping to 53,670. After one brief burst in the late 1990s the students trickled away again. Although the city's grown by 20% since 2000 (after the burst of annexations in mid-county ended), the school district hasn't been able to keep pace. The overall statistics demonstrate the city government's success at turning Portland proper into a family-unfriendly adult theme park. The district is remodeling a lot of buildings for not very many students.
ReplyDeleteAnd how much of this latest cash grab will go directly toward salary hikes? Isn’t there a strike looming?
ReplyDeleteThese bonds can only be spent on capital projects, not people.
DeleteMoney is fungible.
DeleteMy chief concern education-wise is white privilege. And, the inculcation of free-range spelling. Less Shelley, keats, and Yeats: more Tupac, too.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a privilege to live without fear of tanks and artillery. I don’t think diversity can claim credit for that.
DeleteThis election porn was absurd, especially right before a strike in which teachers are asking for more money.
ReplyDelete…and…
The schools are ancient, don't have air conditioning (which is more relevant now than it was when they were built 100 years ago), and were built before we knew what plate tectonics were, much less that there is a giant earthquake looming in our future.
Do we need to carefully preserve each and every one of them? No. But should kids be attending school in 100-year-old buildings? Also no. Gee, if we weren't sending $5 billion back to taxpayers this year we could probably solve this in one fell swoop…
The kicker rebate ($5Bill) is statewide. What makes anyone think it should all go to PPS? With so many high income earners leaving Portland, less of the kicker will go to residents of PPS. It seems like the remaining PPS residents want to put a straw into the state coffers to bail them out, and that comment appears to be an unthinking example of it.
DeleteLooks like PPS has some BIG ideas for the next bond ... https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2023/10/portland-public-schools-eyes-a-new-site-for-hemmed-in-cleveland-high-school.html
ReplyDelete