Letter to the Editor: Letter on Levy Is Factually Inaccurate

Posted

Mr. Corwin’s Jan. 20 letter to the editor, which urges voters to reject the 2020 replacement school levy, is factually inaccurate and ignores the post-McCleary school funding scheme. 

First, the levy on the ballot creates no new tax. Centralia Schools have used levies as a funding mechanism for over 45 years; continuing the practice of funding schools through property taxation is nothing new. Voters approved a levy last year, which expires this year; there is no addition to your property tax bill, simply an extension that will help fund our schools through 2021. 

Furthermore, the levy on our current ballot isn’t “bailing out” our schools. Under McCleary, all school districts in our state are required to provide “basic education”; local levies fund other crucial programs such as arts/music, athletics, and technology that are not funded by the state because they are not considered basic education. The current levy will fund about 6.6 percent of the Centralia School budget for 2021. With those levy funds, Centralia Schools can provide full-time school counselors, nursing staff, athletic options, extended learning programs, and additional classroom support. This is not the direct result of financial mismanagement, as Mr. Corwin accuses, but rather a piece of the new statewide funding scheme.

Personally, as a voter new to this area as of 2017, I find the historical support of our local schools encouraging. Funding schools with a new levy is not a symbol of failure by the local schools to manage their money. To me, children are the future, and adequately funding schools is educating our future generation.



 

Madeleine Hoffman

Centralia