CCSD's Weeping, Wailing, Gnashing of Teeth

The headline says it all for the big spenders on CCSD's School Board and in 75 Calhoun: Classrooms Left Out in Tax Increase. That's what they'd like you to believe. It is true that many taxpayers do not understand the difference in raising taxes for operating expenses (what the P & C calls "classrooms") and the debt service budget for capital items (like new schools). But that is only half the story.

It should be obvious to the headline writer that the capital budget provides for classrooms--building them! And why did taxes need to be raised for this item? Because due to underestimated building expenses, the District has run out of money in the fund covering the schools under construction or about to be built. Hmmph. That's right. Who's responsible for that?

No one is calling Bill Lewis to account. The School Board and, heavens yes, the administration at 75 Calhoun are more than happy to pile requirement upon physical requirement for Charleston County's school buildings. Who could forget the (excuse me) necessity of earthquake-proofing all schools that were built before 2000? And we must have mega-schools built to satisfy the contractors and land developers who gain from their construction, never mind the impact on the busing expenses in the operating budget.

Lost in this process of everyone-getting-his is the education of students to read. Parents can sit back and revel in the knowledge that, should the never-to-be earthquake come, their children will be "safe" (not really, but the odds will improve). Should they care about the wasted time spent on busing? Do they know that mega-schools have fallen out of favor across the nation as they have become nameless, faceless government factories where no one really knows the children who fall between the cracks?

When you pay those higher taxes, just remember that, yes, the condition of school buildings in the Corridor of Shame is shameful, but it's even more shameful that a hefty percentage of children are entering high school reading on a third-grade level or below.

Around here, they'll be not learning to read in the safest, most expensive buildings money can buy. Gee, an accomplishment the taxpayers can be proud of!