Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

It seems the 250-year experiment, started by John Locke, through Adam Smith and advocated in this country by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, in public education has ended here in Pickerington. The people have spoken. What's left? Well you won't have to worry about your property taxes going up. They'll fall with your property values along with your net worth. We're all poorer now.

What to do? As for me, I'm going to invest every cent I can scrape up in ''Sylvan Learning Centers'' stock. It's a sure growth industry in central Ohio.

Agree

I am wondering what all the ''no'' voters will do next time there is a levy, especially an operating levy for the current buildings.

Pickerington voters have effectively punished the BOE for the sins of the past board (''Taj Mahal''), and made it tougher on all of us, even those of us whose children have graduated. I chose to stay here once my children were out of school because I loved the area. I have hopes that someday any grandchildren might be raised here as well, and I would want for them the same or better education I was able to give their parents.

This levy did better than I expected, but there is still a need for it. We have to house the kids we have coming into the district.

By Twp Guy

I Agree Too

Its not just the new kids moving into the PLSD that we must house in our schools -- its the kids who already are here. We have enough kids in double-wides to fill an entire school.

Although our kids may have graduated, it would be wrong for us to deny to other people's kids the opportunities that our own enjoyed. Moreover, overcrowded and downright bad schools will hurt all of us. This will gradually erode the quality of life that we enjoy in this community, and the value of our homes -- which, for most of us, are our largest investment.

The school board has considered alternatives to avoid building more elementary schools -- e.g., moving our kindergarten program to PHS Central, where there is space available, building a single larger elementary school, reconfiguring grades, etc. This community has rejected all of these alternatives.

Nor can we deal with the problem by trying to shift educational costs to parents. There is no lawful way to charge parents, and no one else, for the cost of building a new school. Moreover, we believe in equality of opportunity in this country, and free public education is key to that. Even pay to play threatens our core values.

Those of us who share these concerns need to organize. We need to talk to our friends and neighbors -- to convince them of our pressing need for new elementary schools. Perhaps we could all get together for coffee someplace some Saturday morning. I am open to suggestions.

Well Said

I agree with you completely.

I wonder if people think that voting down the bond issue will eliminate the need for new schools. The kids are here, and far too many are being taught in trailers. Not only that, but more are coming. Failing bond issues and levies doesn't turn people away. This is a lesson we keep learning.

For all the griping about the BOE and mistakes that have been made in the past, such as extravagant spending on PHSN, not one complainer was willing to step up and run on Tuesday's ballot. Gail Oakes wasn't going to run, but did anyway rather than force the BOE to have to appoint someone.

I've noticed a sense of entitlement in this community, a feeling that people deserve the best that money can buy, but that someone else should have to pay for it. It's disturbing. I wonder what we're really teaching our kids.