Education Overdue – Flathead Beacon

One of the nice benefits of public training can also be its drawback. It’s public so, thereby, it’s publicly funded as nicely. This is how most of our public establishments that kind the bedrock of our communities are structured and public enter, typically within the type of paying taxes, is vital in sustaining equitable entry to all, making certain transparency, and offering accountability. The drawback is that public college techniques depend on a mixture of native, state, and federal {dollars}, and relating to native funds, many of those requests fail even once they’re critically wanted. 

When a college asks for cash, within the type of a levy on the taxable worth of a property, some taxpayers solely tune into the phrase “tax” and refuse to take a look at the larger image that faculty levies are a sensible, lengthy-time period funding that profit college students, mother and father and full communities. The final yr Kalispell voters permitted a public college levy for the highschool was 2007. Was U.S. Highway 93 between Whitefish and Kalispell even 4 lanes? Now, the highschool has one other levy on the poll.

Kalispell voters are requested to approve a $1.5 million common highschool fund levy to assist the district fund prices associated to training and operations. Admittedly, I’ve by no means been nice at math and should you’d wish to confirm, you possibly can ask Mr. Fry at Boyne City High School and he’ll probably verify. However, I do grasp two vital figures: enrollment at Kalispell excessive faculties has grown exponentially since 2007 and $1.5 million shouldn’t be that massive of a quantity when its shared by a neighborhood to assist its award-profitable college system.

So, why do you have to put money into the excessive faculties? I requested a good friend, whose stepchildren have been raised in Minnesota, how she views the levy. She and her husband have lived in Kalispell for many years and personal a enterprise, too. This levy is necessary to them as a result of they need our neighborhood to have alternatives for development and prosperity. They know that companies are drawn to locations with a powerful public college system. Although my good friend is in favor of the levy, she additionally understands that it’s a tough promote, as a result of it’s a further price. She commented that should you’re on a set revenue and your youngsters are grown it’s a tough ask. Yet, she is aware of that everybody advantages when public faculties are supported by native tax {dollars}. 

There are so many benefits to approving this levy, and communities which have a strong public training system have lengthy reaped the advantages of this funding. Let’s not enable the phrase “more taxes” place our excessive faculties at an obstacle. On May 3, please be a part of me in voting sure for the highschool common fund levy. 

Maggie Doherty is the proprietor of Kalispell Brewing Company on Main Street.