A ‘call to action? came last week for citizens to join the battle for additional funding for public schools.
Oakland Schools and several organizations representing county school officials hosted a ‘community meeting on school funding? Oct. 13 at Waterford Kettering High School.
Among those attending were Superintendent Al Roberts, Independence Township Supervisor Dale Stuart, Independence Township Clerk Joan McCrary and several local school administrators, board members and parents.
Roberts said it was a fruitful meeting with a wealth of information to explain the financial quandary of public schools.
‘It was good to see a full house,? he said.
Presentations included an analysis of the pros and cons of 1994’s Proposal A, which shifted the majority of public school funding to the state budget and provided property tax relief to homeowners.
In recent years, however, the state budget crunch has produced what school officials believe is inadequate funding for school operations.
‘We are living on a 2002-2003 funding level, but the cost of living has risen significantly,? Roberts said. While he admitted total funding may be up, ‘We continued to get unfunded mandates.?
Such information has been regular material at school board meetings and in news reports, but this meeting produced a strategy to get more citizens involved in the lobbying process.
Roberts said one of the reports quoted a legislator as saying he had heard plenty from school officials about the school funding issue, but not much from citizens.
The message to citizens, therefore, is, ‘If it’s important to you, you’ll have to call [legislators] yourself, because they won’t listen to us,? Roberts said.
Township officials, who have been fighting their own battle with declining state revenue sharing funds, voiced appreciation for the meeting.
‘It was a very good thing for the schools to meet like this and provide information,? Stuart said.
McCrary echoed that sentiment, but wondered whether the citizen strategy would be effective.
‘I still don’t know if there is a solution to the problem,? she said. ?[Citizens] just do not want any more taxes. We hear that here every day.
‘I see the other side of it, though,? she said. ‘The schools do need more funding.?
Roberts said the county-wide school coalition will schedule a followup meeting to which more citizens will be invited.