Making do with less

Editorial from the BCCT.

If this is editorial policy, how about having the reporters ask the tough questions like:

Why did/didn't you cut this program?
What is/is not affected?
How much does this save/cost?

Then, print the answers. If the answer is "I dunno", print that too. Be accountable all around, not just on the editorial page.

Making do with less
Hit with pay cuts and wage freezes, taxpayers have no choice but to cut back. School boards should follow their example.

It’s kind of like the Stockholm syndrome, that state of mind where a hostage becomes sympathetic to the hostage taker. We have in mind those hefty tax hikes school districts are proposing as part of their preliminary budgets.

Fortunately, preliminary budgets are state-mandated exercises that are frequently revised. So by the time a final budget is passed calling for a lower tax hike than originally proposed, taxpayers are thankful that their captors gave them a break.

In normal times, that sort of thing is almost tolerable. Indeed, taxpayers understand rising costs. But in case school officials haven’t noticed, these are not normal times. They are difficult times. Most taxpayers are feeling the financial pinch; many are hurting.

And so it’s unrealistic if not irresponsible for school districts to be discussing hefty tax increases while jobs are being lost, wages frozen and people generally are making do with a whole lot less.

In this area of the state, we’ve become spoiled by the overall high quality of education and haven’t always demanded that school boards knock off the spending binges.

A big part of the problem is the ever-rising cost of labor and school districts’ willingness to meet the unreasonable demands of teachers unions. Top-heavy administrations, with six-figure salaries, add to the burden — too often with school boards hardly batting an eye.

Act 1 was the state law that was supposed to put the brakes on school spending by requiring districts to seek voter approval for tax increases. But each year, districts can raise taxes a certain amount (this year, it’s 4.1 percent) without consulting the voters. In our view, 4.1 percent is excessive these days. But districts can exceed even that by filing for certain exceptions.

Act 1 has become a bad joke, and the taxpayers are the butt of it. School officials don’t help by piling on higher and higher expenses that they claim are absolutely vital.

There is certainly enough blame to spread around for the crisis in public education funding. The state has danced around the problem for years. And local school officials haven’t worked hard enough to bring their budgets in line with economic reality. That needs to change.

Certain “necessities” have to become “options” and certain “options” have to be scrapped, at least for the time being. In every district, labor agreements have to be scrutinized. Renegotiation shouldn’t be an unheard of practice.

In short, school districts have to get their spending under control before they bleed their taxpayers to death.