| Schools should be
1st on all government's lists
The Board of Education is heading
towards the ballot box in November. As with most decisions that include
that removal of currency from our pockets, the process was agonizing.
I believe School Superintendent John DeCotis made the appropriate decision
by opting for the bond referendum. The school system is so far behind
schedule on building facilities that we are not in a position to wait
four to five more years for SPLOST funds to arrive.
Both the problem and the solution are perspicuous — too many students,
facilities needed, tax the citizens. Methodology was the problem and it
can be dissected into the argument of do we tax senior citizens or not?
The main problem I had with a SPLOST was that I could not convince myself
that it was fair to tax senior citizens for my children’s education.
Should a retired couple that recently moved to Fayette County or resident
seniors who funded the system for decades be asked to pay taxes for schools
when they have absolutely no impact on the system?
The selection of the bond method answered the question, since most seniors
will be exempt and we should look for the referendum to win by a substantial
margin.
The predicted outcome of a SPLOST vote would have been clouded because
some of our more prominent Fayette County seniors had not taken a public
stance on the issue and Mr. Claude Paquin’s argument for bonds was
convincing. No matter what method you favored, another failed vote would
be absolutely crippling to the school system.
The somber truth about the November vote is that the $63 million is only
a short-term fix. Our Fayette County school system has seen some overcrowding
problems due to a lack of facilities and the governmental decision making
process (especially with zoning matters and sewerage usage).
The fact that the school system does not appear as a very high priority
in the decision-making process is placing our county in jeopardy. If you
want low crime rates, better recreational facilities and an above-average
quality of life, then you need to attract exceptional residents. So if
you want good, civic-minded families to move into your community, you
need to furnish a top-notch school system to entice them.
Take a historical glance at which metro counties once boasted of having
the state’s top school system: Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb, just to name
a few. The development in the metro area is so rapid that many counties
are passing one SPLOST after another and issuing bonds to make up for
shortfalls with the SPLOST with no hope in sight for most of them.
A representative from Cherokee County’s school system characterized
their status as being in the “triage” stage. Gwinnett’s
cheap and abundant housing market has forced their school system into
the position of never catching up to student demand, and they rake in
close to $200 million per year on their SPLOST.
Fayette County has an opportunity to be the leader in education for a
long time to come if we can allow residential growth to take place incrementally.
My proposal of a countywide, inter-jurisdictional agreement that would
not allow any of the governmental entities to increase a residential zoning
to a higher density unless the school system could sustain the additional
students (without trailers, etc.) is receiving some support from all over
the county. Commercial and industrial zoning is not applicable to the
agreement since it provides school funding without adding students.
We must allow the school system to catch up to the current student demand,
and we must be able to provide adequate educational facilities in the
future. If we cease to control our own educational destiny all we need
do is to look northward to see what our future holds — one SPLOST
or bond after another and always behind.
When the quality of education takes priority with our governmental councils,
commissions, committees and authorities in Fayette County, only then we
will remain the education leaders in Georgia long into the future. Quality
families are attracted to top quality educational opportunities.
The citizens must hold the Board of Education accountable for the management
of the school system. However, we must not allow the blame for a massive
influx of students year after year to fall on their shoulders. “The
school system will just have to keep up” mentality must be discarded
for the sake of Fayette’s quality of life.
Our school system is operated on a five-year plan. A great deal of the
time, the Board of Education staff is forced to make revisions every two
to three years because of unforeseen changes.
Every governmental entity in Fayette County has a land use plan and most
Fayette residents favor controlled growth. You can add into the equation
that we are at least four schools behind, the state is facing major teacher
shortages (AJC, Aug. 22), the after-school program has a waiting list
following the initial two weeks of school (Fayette Neighbor, Aug. 24)
and that the funding per student has increased from $3,860 in 1993 to
$6,052 in 2000 (Today in PTC, Aug. 24).
I am not proposing a total ban on residential zoning; rather, I would
like to see a stricter adherence to the land use plans. Give the school
system predictable future student counts and the citizens will not encounter
a barrage of last minute, crisis-funding measures designed to provide
relief to an assortment of overburdened schools.
This is a pivotal point in our county’s history. We can act now and
insure that our governmental entities do not create self-inflicted, inflated
student demand or we can duplicate the model of the northern counties
and watch our school system deteriorate.
Steve Brown
Peachtree City
Steve_ptc@juno.com
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