Post by rocky on Mar 15, 2006 11:48:06 GMT -6
I will be voting YES on March 21 (for reference on how I came to this decision – see my other three threads).
This will be the first time I have ever voted Yes for a referendum in my 21 years of being of voting age. This includes No votes last year and in 2001 while residing in D204.
I still feel the same way I always have… my taxes are too high, politicians often have hidden agendas, governments do not spend MY money as wisely as I would, etc.
However, this time will be different for me. Since I have four young children in the school system, I decided a blind No vote just wasn’t the right thing to do. I took it upon myself over the last three or four weeks to research the heck out of this issue and draw my own conclusions.
My prior feelings on this topic are summed up perfectly by the cartoon on the CFO website that I came across yesterday. This is the picture of the person shoveling money into the pig’s mouth. The caption says “Feeding the Beast” and represents the perception that the IPSD just keeps wanting to feed money into the education system. I am actually surprised they put this on their website, since in my opinion, it is self incriminating. It reveals the true resistance to this, and any other referendum… money. It represents how I typically feel, and exposes the real core issue behind all the No vote arguments and options. This is why the No crowd stopped having a dialogue with me when I challenged their information, options, etc. There really is not much substance to the No arguments/options. When I peeled it back, it just came down to not wanting to spend more money…. even if it was the right thing to do for the kids and for everyone’s long-term investment, including their own.
The main drivers behind my change of heart include:
We definitely have an overcrowding issue that is fast approaching.
Alternatives like additions, portables, converting Peterson to a MS, sending more kids to COD, etc are not practical and have been thrown up as a smoke screen by the No crowd. These are attempts to introduce doubt into the voter’s minds.
Even if creative, less expensive options were feasible to handle the approaching growth, we’d still have two of the largest high schools in the entire state. I can’t see any benefit to having such large schools. None.
The location and cost of the new school makes complete sense to me and is very much in line with the recommendations and costs of other Chicago area school districts dealing with the same growth issue. Lockport, Plainfield and Algonquin to name a few. It is easy to criticize the SB for not acquiring land ten years ago in a better location when it was a lot cheaper. I think everyone one of us can think of instances in our lives when we wish we knew then what we know now. The fact of the matter is that the BB land is the best site available NOW, and the costs are in line with the going rate for a comparably sized HS.
Do I “like” the thought of my taxes going up even more? No. And before anyone tries to explain that they will actually go down the first 7 years… please don’t, I understand all of this very well. The fact is, if I stay in my home for another 20 years, my overall taxes will have indeed gone up. The blind No voter (usually me), would stop here and cast their No vote and challenge the SB to “find a solution with the large amount of our money you already collect from the community”. But for THIS referendum, that would be a short-sighted decision and would not only be detrimental to the educational experience of our children, but would also reduce the returns on our property investments. Our homes in D204 have higher value than those in surrounding communities in large part because our school system is so good. Why do you think we consistently get ranked on a national level as being one of the best places to live and best places to raise a family? The school system is a major factor. I believe that “investing” further into our school system (aka voting Yes) will ensure that my property value continues to increase at a level that outpaces surrounding areas. I also believe that a No vote will hurt our children, hurt our school district’s performance, and hurt our property valves. Perfect case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
For these main reasons, I am now a definite, and very confident, Yes voter on 3/21. I also believe it is in the best interests of everyone in the community, regardless of which HS they feed in to, or even if they don’t have children…. to Vote Yes for this referendum.
Rocky
This will be the first time I have ever voted Yes for a referendum in my 21 years of being of voting age. This includes No votes last year and in 2001 while residing in D204.
I still feel the same way I always have… my taxes are too high, politicians often have hidden agendas, governments do not spend MY money as wisely as I would, etc.
However, this time will be different for me. Since I have four young children in the school system, I decided a blind No vote just wasn’t the right thing to do. I took it upon myself over the last three or four weeks to research the heck out of this issue and draw my own conclusions.
My prior feelings on this topic are summed up perfectly by the cartoon on the CFO website that I came across yesterday. This is the picture of the person shoveling money into the pig’s mouth. The caption says “Feeding the Beast” and represents the perception that the IPSD just keeps wanting to feed money into the education system. I am actually surprised they put this on their website, since in my opinion, it is self incriminating. It reveals the true resistance to this, and any other referendum… money. It represents how I typically feel, and exposes the real core issue behind all the No vote arguments and options. This is why the No crowd stopped having a dialogue with me when I challenged their information, options, etc. There really is not much substance to the No arguments/options. When I peeled it back, it just came down to not wanting to spend more money…. even if it was the right thing to do for the kids and for everyone’s long-term investment, including their own.
The main drivers behind my change of heart include:
We definitely have an overcrowding issue that is fast approaching.
Alternatives like additions, portables, converting Peterson to a MS, sending more kids to COD, etc are not practical and have been thrown up as a smoke screen by the No crowd. These are attempts to introduce doubt into the voter’s minds.
Even if creative, less expensive options were feasible to handle the approaching growth, we’d still have two of the largest high schools in the entire state. I can’t see any benefit to having such large schools. None.
The location and cost of the new school makes complete sense to me and is very much in line with the recommendations and costs of other Chicago area school districts dealing with the same growth issue. Lockport, Plainfield and Algonquin to name a few. It is easy to criticize the SB for not acquiring land ten years ago in a better location when it was a lot cheaper. I think everyone one of us can think of instances in our lives when we wish we knew then what we know now. The fact of the matter is that the BB land is the best site available NOW, and the costs are in line with the going rate for a comparably sized HS.
Do I “like” the thought of my taxes going up even more? No. And before anyone tries to explain that they will actually go down the first 7 years… please don’t, I understand all of this very well. The fact is, if I stay in my home for another 20 years, my overall taxes will have indeed gone up. The blind No voter (usually me), would stop here and cast their No vote and challenge the SB to “find a solution with the large amount of our money you already collect from the community”. But for THIS referendum, that would be a short-sighted decision and would not only be detrimental to the educational experience of our children, but would also reduce the returns on our property investments. Our homes in D204 have higher value than those in surrounding communities in large part because our school system is so good. Why do you think we consistently get ranked on a national level as being one of the best places to live and best places to raise a family? The school system is a major factor. I believe that “investing” further into our school system (aka voting Yes) will ensure that my property value continues to increase at a level that outpaces surrounding areas. I also believe that a No vote will hurt our children, hurt our school district’s performance, and hurt our property valves. Perfect case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
For these main reasons, I am now a definite, and very confident, Yes voter on 3/21. I also believe it is in the best interests of everyone in the community, regardless of which HS they feed in to, or even if they don’t have children…. to Vote Yes for this referendum.
Rocky
