Editorial: A levy failure would have a dire impact

It’s sad that along with calculators, binders and textbooks, every school year comes with another desperate plea for voters to approve a levy or bond.

It’s money the Puyallup School District relies on — this year’s programs and operations levy, which will go before voters on Feb. 9, accounts for 21 percents of the district’s money. That’s a huge sum any year but on the heels of a poor state budget that forced the education to make painful cuts to their staff and programs and more budget cuts on the horizon, this levy holds even more value than usual.

Yet, in recent years bonds and levies have tended to fail in Puyallup. School officials blame the recession for last year’s levy failure. Voters’ budgets had already been tapped too much in an economy that robbed them of their jobs and homes.

This year, the levy that voters will be asked to approve isn’t new; it replaces one that expires in December 2010. The levy will replace the one from 2006 that is currently in place, extending it for another four years but not adding on extra taxes.

Ironically, the 2006 levy is also the last that Puyallup voters have approved. Since it passed in 2006, Puyallup voters have shot down four other bond and levy measures.

Of course, though, there will be some who vote it down just in principle. Perhaps they will defend their choice by saying education should be funded by the state, as it states in Washington’s constitution. That’s another argument for another day. Right now, students are being penalized by that mentality.

Others say that if they don’t have students in Puyallup schools, there no reason to support the district. That thinking simply cripples future students need the competitive education levies support. Naturally, the government has allowed exceptions to taxpayers who truly can’t afford to contribute but for all others, it’s an opportunity to invest into your community. And with 22,000 students in the Puyallup School District, they represent a large part of the community.

Others argue that students should earn that funding by first doing well on aptitude tests. However, in corporations, employees aren’t graded on their performance without first receiving the necessary training that would allow them to succeed.

Because of recent experience, Puyallup school officials unfortunately have to look at the worst case scenario.

If this one fails, law allows the district to bring the measure forward again in spring. After that, all bets are off.

A double levy failure means about $42 million disappears from the school’s budget. That translates into a loss of staffing, decrease in programs and the possibility of larger class sizes. School officials are even considering the closure of schools or elimination of transportation to help make ends meet.

Other districts that have experienced double levy failures say it takes about a decade to recover. A child starting kindergarten could graduate from high school without ever experiences the same educational benefits that their friends in Sumner have.

That puts Puyallup’s youth at a severe disadvantage when they head out into an adult world.