The Plain Dealer

3/12/2008

School districts returning to the ballot box in August or November, as many are sure to do, must focus their tax requests on their needs, not their desires.

There’s no other way to sell a tax increase, or in many cases a renewal, to a cautious public with money problems of its own and made nervous by talk of a recession, high energy costs, layoffs and housing foreclosures.

Many people support their public schools, but they have to be convinced - really convinced - that schools need more money.

As so often happens, scores of school districts had trouble making that case on March 4. The list of levy failures was long.

In some communities, voters drew a line between new money and old. Parma, for instance, passed a renewal levy, but 72 percent of voters rejected a new issue that sought almost $14 million to pay for technology, textbooks and other resources. The district is looking at $2.5 million in cuts, said a troubled Superintendent Sarah C. Zatik.

The Richmond Heights schools also face cutbacks. The district’s fourth attempt to pass a levy failed, but by a smaller margin, which bodes well for the future. It probably didn’t help matters that school board members decided to dump Superintendent Walter Calinger just a few weeks before Election Day - a move Calinger vigorously opposed.

Voters don’t need many reasons to say no during hard times, but a controversy like that can send a message that a district is paying more attention to politics than the pocketbook.

Even relatively placid districts that boast of good leadership often have a tough time proving they deserve an increase. In financially uncertain times, making the case becomes both more important and more difficult. And voters have an easier time rejecting district pleas.

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