New monument to public waste

There are few topics that rile up residents like taxes and their children. When it comes to paying for public schools, the two meet in what can be an explosive emotional outburst.

The Mat-Su Valley is a fairly conservative place politically, which is just fine we me, as I lean more to the right than anywhere. That’s why I agree with many here that a trio of large bond questions on the October general election ballot has an uphill climb. They’re needed, but being a need is sometimes not enough for a voting public that’s tired of being nickeled and dimed to death paying for luxuries while basic necessities are neglected.

Valley voters will decide on more than $74 million in three bond questions. The bulk of the bonds, about $43 million, are for a pair of Mat-Su Borough School District questions, and another $32.5 million for a laundry list of road projects.

Judging by reader response to our Frontiersman.com online poll (which is not at all scientific), it seems the borough and school district have their work cut out for them. Overall, 47 percent say they’ll vote “no” on all three questions, that “the borough has its had in my pocket enough already.” That compares to 27 percent who say they’ll vote for all three questions. Another 20 percent say they’ll either vote “yes” for roads and “no” for one of the school questions, or vise versa, “no” to roads and “yes” to schools.

That the school district has divided its needs into two questions is smart. The larger bond, $33.9 million, is for renovations at existing schools. The smaller is a $9 million asking for multiple athletics-related projects and numerous district locations. This gives voters an option to upgrade existing locations without feeling obligated to pony up more cash for athletics.

For my part, I hope both are approved — not because I’m a “tax-em-all all the time” wacko; rather, because I believe in the need.

But that’s not what sparked this column. It’s a story of another public school district that sets a new bar for the example of just why so many are so untrusting of local governments and school boards. When Los Angeles — what a surprise, it’s California — students return to school this fall, some 4,200 of them will open the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, a campus of K-12 education that is being touted as the most expensive public school in America.

At $578 million, the Los Angeles school district’s monument to excess is opening at a time when the district itself is projecting a budget shortfall of about $640 million and has laid off 3,000 teachers in the past two years. In addition to classrooms, there’s a giant swimming pool, fine art on the walls, opulent dining area and talking benches that give history lessons about the school’s site.

An ABC News report on the school calculates the complex’s per-pupil cost at about $250,000, which means that project is more expensive, per capita, than the Olympic stadium China built to host the 2008 games. It also tops the $400 million Denver-area voters paid to build Invesco Field and Mile High, the home of the Denver Broncos.

By comparison, our Mat-Su Borough School District questions don’t seem so over-the-top outrageous. We don’t need (or want, I’d presume) talking benches, Olympic-size swimming pools or four-star dining halls for our children. What we all want, regardless of price tag, is the best value and return on our investment in local education.

Greg Johnson is a Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter.