D100 tax referendum

[Ted]

 Last Wednesday, the South Berwyn Elementary School District 100 school board voted to put a property tax rate increase referendum on the ballot on the April 4 election.

  The proposed referendum would increase the property tax rate by 60 cents to $4.195 per $100 of assessed property value. For someone paying $4,000 in property taxes, the increase would be around $150 per year.  For someone paying $5,000 in property taxes, the increase would be around $188 per year. For someone paying $6,000 in property taxes, the increase would be around $225 per year.

If the referendum passes, there would be an increase of $2.2 million dollars in property taxes collected by the district, around a 17% increase in property taxes. Last year, the district collected $13.3 million in property taxes.  The increase would have brought the property taxes collected to $15.5 million (all things being equal).

  The district has been running a deficit in the millions of dollars the last few years due to cut backs in state funding and increased enrollments in the district. The district's budget in 2015 was around $45 million dollars in expenditures.

[markberwyn]

When was the last time a tax referendum for Berwyn schools passed?

[Ted]

When was the last time a tax referendum for Berwyn schools passed?

Both D98 and D100 passed tax rate increase referenda in the late 1980s. Also, D100 passed a property tax building bond referendum in the late 1990s to acquire money to build the two middle schools.

D201 has not passed a tax rate increase referendum since the late 1960s.  There were 3 attempts by D201 to pass a tax rate increase in 2006 and 2007 but all 3 failed.  There was also an attempt by D201 to pass a tax rate increase referendum in 1993 when the Klingenburg scandal broke. The 1993 referendum failed with an astounding 93% NO vote.

  D100 attempted to pass both a tax rate increase referendum and a separate building bond referendum in 2014 - the combined referenda would have increased the average Berwynite's property tax bill by around $1,000 (a 20% increase).

  This time around D100 is going for only a tax rate increase referendum and they are lowering their expectations to a more modest increase.  Last time around, the feeling of board members was that people would either vote for or against the referenda regardless of the cost to the tax payer and that it was simply a matter of getting out the pro-tax increase people.

  In 2014, the tax rate increase referendum lost with an 80% NO vote and the building bond referendum lost with a 70% NO vote.  What the board heard from the community was that even people who usually support tax increases to support the schools thought the district was asking for too much of an increase and they could not afford such a steep increase in their taxes.

  The 2014 tax rate increase would have brought in an additional $6 million dollars in property tax revenue.  The 2017 proposed referendum will bring in about $2.2 million dollars - enough to plug the deficit holes in the budget and make up for cutbacks in state money as well as address the 10% increase in enrollments over the last 10 years.

[berwyn senator]

Australia did a study on education,the results were if we let teachers teach and discipline the students the results are much better then just throughing money at the system.The was on WLS radio this morning,I though this to be very interesting.

[markberwyn]

How were these "results" measured? What metrics were used? How did the study explain how "throughing" money at the system stifles discipline and keeps teachers from teaching?

[berwyn senator]

Send an e-mail to Australia!

[markberwyn]

This response doesn't befit the critical thinking skills you cultivated while pursuing a Master's Degree. You say you found the report interesting, and I presume that's because you found parts of the report persuasive. What exactly did you find interesting about the report?

[Ted]

Australia did a study on education,the results were if we let teachers teach and discipline the students the results are much better then just throughing money at the system.The was on WLS radio this morning,I though this to be very interesting.

  What do you do if you don't have enough money to pay all the teachers and they all quit and get other jobs?

What happens if you do not pay teachers a salary that is the same as other districts so they all quit to get jobs in other districts?

What happens if you do not have enough money to pay teachers to teach in a classroom that is a viable size (say 15 to 20) and the teachers are having to teach and discipline a classroom of size 35 to 40?

  Your scenario works only if you have the money to pay the teachers, doesn't it?

What happens if all the teachers quit because of a district's financial situation?

[berwyn senator]

I only made a statement as to what was on the radio to me it was interesting that Australia would do such a study thats it. I'll bet some wish they had obtained a masters degree, why worry about me ,worry about yourself.I have nothing against teachers earning a good living, my biggest bitch is the political involvement in the educational system. I am surprised more of the good teachers remain,I have meet with teachers in private schools whom earn less income. The left the public system because of the stress and political involvement.These are excellent teachers and are are doing very well, they are allowed to teach.

[markberwyn]

I only made a statement as to what was on the radio to me it was interesting that Australia would do such a study thats it. I'll bet some wish they had obtained a masters degree, why worry about me ,worry about yourself.I have nothing against teachers earning a good living, my biggest bitch is the political involvement in the educational system. I am surprised more of the good teachers remain,I have meet with teachers in private schools whom earn less income. The left the public system because of the stress and political involvement.These are excellent teachers and are are doing very well, they are allowed to teach.

What does it mean to be "allowed to teach"? How are the teachers in the public-school system not "allowed to teach"?

[markberwyn]

Also, by the by, I did a quick google and found the news story about what I suspect is the study you're referring to:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/classroom-discipline-key-to-lifting-academic-performance/news-story/99fea8ce58cc72e42586f7939c444863

First off, the study wasn't conducted by "Australia," but a university that's based there. Second, while it argues that discipline reaps more benefits than financial investment, it doesn't suggest that financial investment in education is somehow a problem. It certainly doesn't suggest that slashing school budgets improves schools, and it doesn't say that schools are "throughing" money at the problem.

But maybe I'm misunderstanding something, senator. What's your read on it?

[berwyn senator]

I did not think that it was that important to go indept as you did but thanks for doing so,I am glad you have the time.

[markberwyn]

I did not think that it was that important to go indept as you did but thanks for doing so,I am glad you have the time.

It sounds to me like you want to starve the schools of funding---the only idea you seem to express a strong opinion about is that too much money is spent on the kids.

[markberwyn]

I figured it was very important to you because you've started multiple threads on the importance of education, and how you were the beneficiary of a better one than others.

[markberwyn]

My pet theory about the people who resist funding the public schools in Berwyn is that it's old-school Berwynites who dislike anything that supports brown people, so they say they're voting their conscience because of "politics." And because the school board is elected, they can always say that there's too much "politics."

[Ted]

My pet theory about the people who resist funding the public schools in Berwyn is that it's old-school Berwynites who dislike anything that supports brown people, so they say they're voting their conscience because of "politics." And because the school board is elected, they can always say that there's too much "politics."

I opposed the referenda in 2014 and it had absolutely nothing to do with supporting "brown people" and had everything to do with the cost of the property tax increase - a 20% increase.  Most people, including the elderly and low income families, would not have been able to afford such a drastic increase.

[markberwyn]

I'm taking the long view here, Ted. Are you really going to deny that race is a motivating factor in Berwyn politics?

[Bonster]

My pet theory about the people who resist funding the public schools in Berwyn is that it's old-school Berwynites who dislike anything that supports brown people, so they say they're voting their conscience because of "politics." And because the school board is elected, they can always say that there's too much "politics."

I opposed the referenda in 2014 and it had absolutely nothing to do with supporting "brown people" and had everything to do with the cost of the property tax increase - a 20% increase.  Most people, including the elderly and low income families, would not have been able to afford such a drastic increase.

There may be some folks who dislike brown people, but overall I agree with your assessment regarding low income families.  I'll take it a step further and suggest even those who are not low income still guard their money closely due to broader economic concerns regarding the housing and job markets.   

It would be interesting peruse the D100 Facebook page to see who's pushing or supporting what.  BCK, well... that's a shitshow regardless of ethnicity! 

[Ted]

I'm taking the long view here, Ted. Are you really going to deny that race is a motivating factor in Berwyn politics?

  Berwyn is a different place today than it was even 10 years ago.  Not everyone who opposes the tax rate increase does so because of race - I think it is mostly due to economics.

  I honestly don't think Berwyn has the "race" problem that you seem to perceive it has.

[markberwyn]

Well, this has less to do with how Berwyn "is" than who in Berwyn votes. And in non-Presidential elections, more conservative voters come out; if Berwyn is historically different on that front, I'd love to hear about it. And it doesn't require a huge mental leap to recognize that a lot of those voters are like berwyn senator---older, deeply suspicious of nonwhite residents, and forever skeptical of supporting schools beyond the generation they grew up in. Are you telling me that every single Morton-related tax proposal since the late 60s failed because the "economics" were bad?