Column for August 9, 2007

Wiping off my shoes

Have you ever walked down a sidewalk or on a lawn and suddenly you smelled a present left you by a dog? Then you realize it is now on your shoe? I got that same sense upon reading the letter to the editor that was printed in this newspaper from Dr. Anthony Parker, the Superintendent of Schools here in Johnston County.

In his letter, Dr. Parker cited a bunch of statistics about how much money was being spent, was needed, and how many students he expects to enroll in our county schools in the future. He used this opportunity to stump for a tax increase to generate more revenue for schools.

In Johnston County, we just passed a $99 million bond referendum in May to assist in school construction. Next, we supposedly have a lottery to benefit education, hence the inaccurate name, "The North Carolina Education Lottery". Obviously they were both ineffective, a boondoggle, or not good enough for Dr. Parker.

Is it not ironic that right here in Selma, we have a charter school starting this year that takes no state or county money for school facilities? They are only given the exact same amount of money per student that the public schools are allotted. The cost of facilities for charter schools has to be paid out of that money whereas public (government owned and run) schools get that money plus money for facilities.

We are now paying Dr. Parker $209,000 a year to do his job. We pay him to administrate the school system. We do not pay him to perform political lobbying, recommend how to fund schools, or attempt to sway the process that we elect people to perform. He is paid more money than the Governor of this state to run a school system of only 31,000 students compared to the Governor's constituency of 8.8 million people.

We elect people on the County School Board, the County Board of Commissioners, and state legislators to take up such debates and decisions. We did not hire Dr. Parker to attempt influence for a needless tax increase.

We had a $1.5 billion budget surplus in this state just this year. That means that we as taxpayers were overtaxed that much. Instead of spending the surplus on school construction, retiring debt, or refunding the overage, the money was squandered. On top of that, the state still wants to raise taxes and so does Dr. Parker.

When I was in school, we used 20 plus year old textbooks. They often were in disrepair. However, history, mathematics, elementary science, and English do not change, so we squeezed use out of the books. I was talking to a young local teacher recently who told me that she just got brand new textbooks but was informed not to use them for some unknown reason.

When I was in school, we did not use mobile classrooms. We put 35 to 40 children in a room and we did not know that we were overcrowded. We put students in converted closets. We turned a drama stage into a library so that the library could be used for classroom space. We cut some extra-curricular activities and almost cut out the entire sports program at one point. I personally still have a letter from the mayor of that small town thanking me for my input on the matter at a town meeting when I was a mere elementary school student.

Parochial schools in the area turned out a quality education for even less money than the public schools because they were frugal with their money but focused on education instead of facilities and maintaining a highly compensated bureaucracy.

I have been accused of using sophisticated verbiage in my columns and keeping a dictionary handy to write my word craft. No, it is merely a product of a school system that faced the same student population and funding issues but still turned out students with a decent education rather than whining about needing to increase taxes on landowners.

In preparation for this column, I redid some research. According to The Federation for American Immigration Reform, Hispanics made up 57 percent of enrollment growth in North Carolina public schools from 2000 to 2005. Personally, I do not care that these people are Hispanics. I only care whether they are here legally or not. According to the Carolina Journal, roughly 65 percent of North Carolina’s Latino population are illegal immigrants (December, 12 2005 article). That tells me that we have a huge issue with having to pay for the education of children who do not belong in this nation.

Doctor Parker, the problem is not with a lack of money being sent to the federal government, the state, or the county to pay for schools. The problem is that we are mandated to pay for the education, meals, and health care of those who do not belong in this nation, so the problem is with the federal government, under-taxed landowners. The problem is with schools having a bloated administrative staff who are paid more than our chief executive officer of our state. It is a problem with administration, Dr. Parker, not with money. More money does not equate to quality education, and that is what we pay you to provide. If money was the answer, then the Washington, D.C. schools would put out the best students in the world.

When the schools can prove great frugality with the money we already provide, I will consider supporting a tax increase. Until then, I have to go wipe off my shoes.