How will you vote?

On November 6^th, the people of Washington will have the opportunity to vote on EHJR 4204, the constitutional amendment which will change the requirements for school levy passage from a super majority to a simple majority. I've seen the ad campaign on TV that argues that only a simple majority is required to pass levies for public hospitals, prisons, parks etc..., so it's not fair that school levies require a 60% voter approval. After all, schools are important; our kids' education is important. Even the Washington REALTORS® Association endorses EHJR 4204. Who could not want improved schools?

Here are my objections:

• Currently, local school levies must receive both a 60% super majority approval and meet the 40% validation requirement to pass. There is a reason why regular tax levies do not require a super majority and school levies do. It was added to our constitution because it was realized that school levies benefited only a small segment of the population (those with school-aged children), while spreading the burden to many (property tax payers). Every one pays property taxes, not just home owners or business owners, but also tenants, who's landlords pass the taxes along as part of the rent payments.

             Lowering the school levy vote requirement to a simple majority is unfair to the broad base of tax payers.

• Making school levies even easier to pass will result in increased property taxes. At a time when affordable housing is more and more difficult to obtain, increased property tax burdens will price a number of the population out of home ownership. Seniors find it increasingly difficult to manage property tax increases on their limited budgets. Many are forced to sell the homes they've lived in for decades.

          Easier passage of school levies will result in higher property taxes.

• The public is constantly presented with the claim that if the schools would only receive more money, our children would receive a better education. Washington State is currently spending more dollars per student (adjusted for inflation) than any other time in history. More of our tax dollars are going to education than any time in history. Consequently that should mean we have better educated students than any other time in history, but we do not. Money is not the problem. http://www.effwa.org/highlighters/v14_n18.php  . According to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics, "The United States ranked the highest among the six G8 countries presented in terms of expenditure per student at the combined primary and secondary levels as well as the higher education level." https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/intlindicators/pdf/Comparisons_of_Expenditures_2000.pdf  Yet in the 2003 PISA study conducted, by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development), the US students ranked a disgraceful 25^th in math, reading and science skills, behind countries like Latvia, the Slovak republic and Poland. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923110.htm

          More money will not fix our public education system.

What's needed is not more levies, increased taxes and a change to the constitution, but a system of accountability, raised standards and free market practices.

Sandy Nelson
Realtor for Olympia Area Real Estate
www.sandynelsonrealestate.com