More BS from NCS

This rat-a-tat-tat in the Advocate letters-to-the-editor column promoting the Newark school levy appears to have been written by the same person. You sort of get so you can spot the same writer if you read enough of anyone’s prose. If I’m right, that person could be the Newark City Schools new $59,000-a-year spin doctor. If I’m wrong it doesn’t change the rat-a-tat-tat aspect that I know is coming from her.

I predicted in an essay 11/12/08 the product taxpayers were buying in this $59,000-per-year investment is more BS from NCS.  

Also, I answered in advance those letters currently appearing in the Advocate in an essay 1/19/09 when I said: The "more taxes for the kids" song doesn't play anymore. The reason is that the public is no longer slumbering and leaving their voting responsibilities up to parents of students. The public has recognized that the money isn't for the kids; it's for the accumulated and ever-growing fat content of Newark City Schools. The public has at last demanded a reckoning.

NCS has, in other words, failed taxpayers, the employers who have no more fat to donate.

That’s one thing Tuesday’s vote is about, but it is about much more than just that. It’s about a school administration that has failed students and parents. It’s about a school administration that has proved - time after time - itself unable serve constituents or take a new direction. Therefore, Tuesday’s vote will be the only way in which the direction of NCS can be influenced. 

This is not about whether Newark should support its schools. Total revenue for NCS has risen from $52.8 million in 1999 to $70.3 million in 2008, while student population has dropped from 7,433 in 1999 to 6,468 in 2008. You can get links to all the financial info in the essay at this link.

We are, indeed, financially supporting our schools. So letter writers and conscripts of Keith Richards, quit talking as though people who aren’t voting for school levies are somehow ignorant or defective or selfish.

If voters want more of the same crap coming out of 85 East Main Street, then they should indeed vote “yes.” If not, the only way they can say so is to give this levy another good thumping. That’s what the real issue is.