My City Spends Less Than $1000 Per Child, Per School Year!

My kids are all in school this year. Luckily, they are all in the same school, too. I attended the first meeting of TAPS (Teacher and Parent Support) today. They help raise money for different things for the school, the teachers, and the students.

What I learned today is that the city I live in spends less that $1,000 per child, a year, for education. We are the lowest in the state. Our neighboring city to the north spends $4,000 a student per year. I was completely shocked. I know my state ranks around being the 48th or 49th state in education funding, for the country. But wow - less that a thousand dollars.

Right now they are trying to pass a bond issue and a mil levy override to support our city schools. This would raise the average tax payer's property taxes by about $12.08 a month. It seems like a lot, but is it really?

The bond is to put air conditioning in the remaining schools that do not currently have air conditioning. I find it unacceptable that our schools do not have air conditioning. We live in a semi-arid area, and it gets HOT during the beginning of the school year and then again towards the end. If we have 90 to 100 degree days, I would say our school really needs air conditioning.

The mil levy override covers a bunch of issues. It is to help restore visual and performing arts, equalize teacher pay, help pay for utility increases for air conditioning, and some other stuff to help out the schools.

There are many, many poor people in my city. The face is, that unless we provide more funding for better education, our children will not be able to grow up and bring themselves out of poverty. I know $12 a month is definitely worth making sure my children can grow to their potential.