A critical election will soon be upon us.
In the March primary election, The Cleveland Heights-University Heights school board will place on the ballot a levy for a huge tax increase, amounting to $276 for each 100,000 of your home valuation (7.9 mil).
Please make no mistake: This levy can and will pass if we do not vote!
For those who are new to town, or simply who have never voted before, you can still register to vote, but hurry, registration closes February 18. You can register at any library.
We have defeated levies in the past and we can defeat this one as well, but only…only, if we all get out and register and vote.
Thank you very much,
Eliot Gutow
Ellen Worthington says
All children benefit from the public schools. If they don’t use them directly, they use the buses and auxiliary services. By law, in the state of Ohio, schools can only increase revenue by raising taxes. If you want the benefit for vouchers and other services, you need to support the school system. All children in the district need an education and we all benefit from an educated population.
Abe says
Maybe there are two sides to the issue. Is the mantra always vote no?
Mr.T says
Good schools produce good kids, and good kids makes a neighborhood good.
It’s a simple message with a simple point.
Simcha Geller says
Cuyahoga County is one of the highest taxed counties in the state and the CHUH School District is one of the highest taxed school districts in the county. Most public schools in the district are still failing, despite the decreasing enrollment and the high dollar amount spent per student (over $20k per student – as per the CHUH website, their yearly expenditures are almost $120 million per year and they have only about 5,200 students enrolled, which is about 1,000 less students than a decade ago). More money does not equal better public schools. Until there is a change in how the schools are run and the students are taught, throwing more money at the problem will be a waste.
Instead of trying to fix the failing schools, the district will blame the problem on everything else (parents, type of students in their district, state rules, etc.).
In terms of the benefits the non-public school students might get from the school district, the vouchers would decrease if the school’s would not be rated as failing (the intent of those vouchers is to encourage the public schools to compete for those dollars by improving their schools). Bus service, may be convenient for those non-public school families that utilize it, however, that is very expensive bus service if that is the only benefit obtained from a $5-$7k per year tax bill.
I’m all for strong public schools, I think it is very important, but I don’t think raising our already too high property taxes, yet again, will resolve the issues. Let’s first see some leadership and a real effort/plan to fix the issues in the CHUH public schools before asking the struggling families to pay more money into a failing system.