If you go

Citizen, the Board of Education is in serious danger of

losing its bid for a special sales tax to pay for school

construction next week.

The

objections are many and varied.

Some object

because they don't trust the school board. That's partly

because there has been a series of actions by the board

that were unpopular but necessary.

For

instance, recent school construction has brought the

inevitable redrawing of school districts, an exercise

that is guaranteed to tick off the parents of every child

who has to change schools, and many of the parents of

children who don't have to change schools.

It's also

partly because of some actions by the board that looked

suspicious to people, and which can't be absolutely

defended as necessary. For instance, they named a

superintendent who was, from the get-go, a short-timer.

He came to Fayette County to retire.

Yet he made

a lot of fairly severe changes in personnel, and people

suspected that some cronyism was going on. A lot of

people are thoroughly convinced of that.

Personally,

I couldn't tell you whether they're justified in that

belief, but there it is. Two school board members paid

for that perception in the last election.

Now the

board has promoted a respected administrator from within

to be its superintendent instead of going outside, and

seems to be trying to erase the negative impressions that

built up from previous actions, but I suspect there's

still an image problem out there that is going to affect

the vote this coming Tuesday.

Some object

because they believe the board has not managed their tax

money wisely in the past. Schools should have been built

larger to accommodate expected growth, instead of having

to come back to the well for more tax money time after

time, some would argue.

The

portable classrooms show up way too soon after a school

first opens, the argument goes. "If you can't manage

our money and our classroom needs better than that, why

should we give you more money to mismanage?"

Again, I

lack sufficient information to judge whether it's true.

I'm reporting what I've been hearing.

If those

kinds of mistakes have, indeed, been made in the past,

I'm not sure that voting against the tax is going to

solve the problem. Assuming we've learned from those

mistakes, we'll never catch up if we have to rely only on

property tax - yesterday's dollars - to keep up

with the projected growth - tomorrow's dollars.

Frankly, I

think the bottom line for the majority of those who

object may be the feeling that any tax is a bad tax.

For those

of you on the left who think of me as a right wing

radical, let me just say this: There are such things as

good taxes.

What you

folks have to decide as you go to the polls Tuesday is

whether this is going to be a good tax.

How do you

define a good tax?

A. It's

necessary. If you don't think the school system can keep

up with the growth in students (not to mention the

increasing demand for new technology and improved

security) using property taxes and state funding alone,

then you should vote for the sales tax.

I think

there's compelling evidence that this may be the case.

Fayette County is growing at a rate that requires about a

new school every year, and the students from new

neighborhoods show up at school long before any property

taxes start coming in. There's also a huge time lag

before any state funding for new construction comes in.

If you

don't want to be constantly behind the curve, tomorrow's

dollars have to come from somewhere.

B. It's

better than the alternative. Your choice is between sales

taxes and more property taxes. I haven't heard anyone

from the school board predicting a reduction in property

taxes as a result of passage of the sales tax, but it's

certainly possible that the property tax for bonded

indebtedness could be increased if the sales tax doesn't

go through.

Sources at

the school board say it would take three mills of

property tax to pay back a $90 million bond for

construction.

C. It's

buying things that are needed and will enhance the

county's quality of life.

It's easy

to make a case for the new classrooms, but this tax also

will pay for improved technology and security. Some

people may think the schools don't need all those bells

and whistles.

Can Fayette

continue to have the best schools in the state without

these advancements? And is it worth it to you to continue

to have the best schools in the state?

Empty-nesters

may answer that last question differently than those with

children. Personally, quality education is one of those

things I feel I have to support as a human being and a

member of society, regardless of where I am in the stages

of life.

Whether

that's ever going to come from a public education system

is another question entirely, but as long as we have one,

it should be the best that we can make it.

In the end,

it's a tough choice, but you have to make it, Fayette

voters. Good luck.