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558 N. Main St.,
Prineville, OR 97754
Phone: 541.447.6205 |
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| The lesser of two evils |
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By Vance W. Tong
If you haven't received your vote by mail ballot yet, you soon will be.
One of the two measures you'll be asked to vote on is Measure 19. For the thinking voter, this is a no-win decision.
By voting 'yes' you favor renaming the education endowment fund to the education stability fund and transferring $150 million of that fund's content to the ailing State School Fund.
By voting 'no' you simply do not favor this option.
On the surface, a 'yes' vote sounds like a pretty good idea. Dropping $150 million into the nearly $200 million pit that is the State School Fund would do a lot to fill in that hole. Surely cutting a mere $50 million couldn't be that difficult.
Those 'no' voters would be made out as people who don't support schools - the backbone of our future.
The unfortunate side effect is that by approving the fund change and transfer of money, you also approve of the way this state's schools are run. That, in itself, is the real problem.
We live in a state that has a school system that can't seem to say 'no'.
Only by making hard cuts and coming up with real long-term funding solutions is the school funding crisis ever going to end.
Unfortunately, by voting 'no' on Measure 19, you condemn school districts across the state to massive cutbacks because no one had the foresight to see this funding train wreck coming.
By voting 'yes' you provide a short-term snack that will still leave the State School Fund monster with a voracious appetite for even more money.
It's your choice Voter, and there is no easy answer.
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