Education breeds hope

It’s a little thing, but it gives me hope.

When I went to cast my ballot Tuesday, the community center was rather clogged with people. When you live in a town that’s about the size of a Milwaukee high school, that’s a bit strange.

I bristled a bit when I got near the front and saw the giant sign that said, “Be prepared to show your Wisconsin ID.” I thought about making a huge scene, but The Midget was with me, the line was a bit long and I was bound and determined to cast my ballot against a fake Democrat.

I ended up showing my ID three times. I’m not sure I needed to on that third run, but, again, I wasn’t about to let an obstacle like failing to show a piece of plastic stop me.

The chances of the fake Dem winning were remote, which was why this whole crowd thing felt strange. Then, I got my ballot and I figured it out: The school district had put its bond referendum out there again.

A few months ago, I wrote about the stupidity of people who aren’t willing to pay ANYTHING for ANYTHING, especially when it comes to schools. In this case, the ballot asked for slightly less than last time to patch holes in roofs and fix infrastructure problems. If approved, it would raise more than $1 million and cost each taxpayer about $9 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

I looked around and recognized some of the people from my area. They were the same people who had donned red T-shirts and supported Randy Hopper at the parade last week. Hopper himself was there and he stopped by my car to talk to the mayor. All I could think was, “This asshole is touching my car. He’s touching my car. Resist the urge to scream or ask him if he found a new place to live.”

(Funny aside: Hopper’s people were getting all the cheers when they walked the route, The Missus said. Jessica King, the Dem running against him, was getting almost no love. My mom, who drove up from Milwaukee to see me roll down Main Street at 3 mph, saw King walking the route, screamed like a schoolgirl in support and ran out to shake her hand. “Beat this guy,” she said. I love my mom.)

I filled out my ballot and checked off the “approve this funding for the love of God and all that is holy” box. Truth be told, I didn’t have a self-interest stake in this ballot. In the fall, The Midget was going to Catholic school, so she’d be out of the district. However, I believe we ALL have a stake in education. When one of Hopper’s drones called me to push poll last week, I hung in there until the question on “which of these things matters most to you?” I picked education. It does matter. I finished the poll to make SURE that the message got across.

When I got home after a late meeting, I checked my Twitter feed and found the tweet: Third time’s the charm. The people of my fair city had approved the measure by a 57-43 margin.

I don’t know if the people just got worn down or if the “heavy Dem” turnout might have swayed the issue. All I know is that in this quiet little hamlet, you can’t throw a rock down the road and not hit two Republicans. You will more easily find a muskrat in your backyard than a Democratic supporter. And yet the people out here found it in themselves to say, “This isn’t a political issue. We all could use more cash. However, it’s $9 for most of us so sack up and pay it for the good of our children.”

We might never be on the same page for most things, but it was a little thing and it gives me hope that some people can be reached if we speak well enough.

Comments

[CVS]

I think you bring up a good point, but I think it is important to note that the current funding problems are mostly due to tax cuts that were given to corporations and the rich which is forcing the middle class to pick up more of the tab.

I do my civic duty just like most everyone else. But when I look around and I see less police and fire protection, roads and bridges not getting fixed, longer lines and waits for ever reducing government services, and so on, and then I get asked to pay more while corporations and the rich are given another break, I have to wonder what exactly it is that I am paying for.

[MichaelF]

Nice to see common sense win out. That's such a small investment for what amounts to a big return, especially for property owners.

And, I don't know if Wisconsin has a homestead exemption, but down here ours is pretty big, which means you have to own a pretty big house to get even a 100K assessment.

[OkieBlue]

I know what you mean about not having any Dems around. In Oklahoma it's just assumed that you are a red neck conservative. During conversations when politics comes up it's always damn liberals this and we can't wait to get rid of Obama and we shouldn't have to pay any taxes for anything and isn't Ron Paul a brave man?

A Dem in Oklahoma is about like being the Maytag Repairman.

[pansypoo]

why i don't do art fairs in the area.

[Athenae]

Our local school referendum passed in the spring resoundingly, and I drove around town gleefully giving the finger to all the JUST SAY NO signs that I saw. I don't have kids, but it benefits me if all the little nippers can get at least the rudimentary skills necessary to get jobs so they don't spend all their time lighting shit on fire in my alley.

But you should have heard the epic bitching that went on. "I'm being taxed out of my home!" Dude, your taxes went up $37. A year. You blow that on lunch, I mean, come on.

A.

[thebewilderness]

I vote or them, but before I do I have to work my way through the simmering rage over the states failure to fund education as the state constitution requires. We ha to sue the state back in the seventies in an effort to get them to fund any part of it. We won the suit but then the quibbled forever over the definition of "basic". So we still have well funded schools in wealthy neighborhoods and overcrowded underfunded schools in poor ones. Still pissed after all these years.
They did finally freeze property taxes on seniors who were being taxed out of their homes. Yes indeed, they were. Remember that housing bubble? Around here it had been steadily inflating since the eighties. Setting aside two hundred a month to pay property taxes is not easy when your income is eight hundred a month. But we care about our grandchildren, so we vote for the school levy.

[pansypoo]

people know napoleon walker + returds have attacked education and people are not into that.