Today’s an election day in Central Ohio, and one of two items that I voted absentee is a school levy.

The school district has come under fire for mismanagement of funds in the past, and the voters have punished it by voting down two levy increases and an income tax. They’ve essentially warned us that three buildings will be closed and buildings will be used in a split-schedule, with older kids being taught in the morning and younger kids in the afternoon and early evening.

The school levy and other taxation issues are good items to discuss—for adults. Hearing that my 9-year-old niece is worried about what is going to happen should the levy not pass, and seeing students having to do the job of adults in communicating the benefits of a levy is just sad. Some people need to grow up and participate in the arena of ideas, or get out of school administration.

When I was in high school, we had a voting block of old people that would not pass any levies for years, to the point where our high school had to sell the land where it was planning to build a football stadium to repair the roof among other things. The apartments on the southeast corner of 79th and North Oak in Kansas City are a continuing testament to the dependence upon unsteady empty-nesters for school funding. To this day three high schools share one football stadium for the district. Yet the kids were never exploited to campaign for legislation. We had fund raisers out the wazoo, but we were never made pawns in political elections. I wasn’t exploited for political lobbying until I was in college during the Hancock II fight in Missouri. :)

Some of our empty-nesters don’t want to pony up $214 more, or $1012 total. Yet I wonder what the financial value of their education would be, that they received from the district, in today’s dollars. If we don’t want public funding for schools, then fine; those that benefited should give their share back, with interest.

If the levy doesn’t pass, there are a couple of local private schools that will gorge on higher enrollment. Perhaps that is a good thing. If I can get back my state taxes that I’m forced to pay that go into the Ohio education budget, plus rescind the school district levies, and the added demand creates more church-backed schools and merit-based scholarships, then I can release those who have benefited in the past from their societal obligations. Freedom has a price.

Update: May 4, 9:45am: The school levy passed.