Vote No for the Kids Sake
To the Editor:
G.K. Chesterton said “Nine times out of ten it is the coarse word that condemns an evil, and the refined word that excuses it.” Last Wednesday evening the LGISD School board demonstrated this truth in a masterclass of excusing evil. They held an entirely one-sided “information meeting” at Frisch Auf where concerned residents were treated to three speeches in favor of the 90-million-dollar school bond. No questions were allowed. To be fair, audience members were told that they could walk around to all the information tables and that “if you still have questions, you can ask them (privately) afterward.” It was clear they still do not want to hear from taxpayers.
Well, since the school board is actively avoiding any community feedback I would like to register this article as a clarification where we will swap their refined words which excuse their evil, for coarse words that will expose it. No profanity… just unrefined truth-speak for once.
Let’s start by swapping “bond” for debt for that is what it is. $90 million of new debt. In 2017 the ISD took on around $37.8 million worth of new debt on a 35 year term. Now they are asking for another 90 million dollars on a 25 year term. This means that the adults in the room, are binding their children to a $127 million debt (not including interest) that they won’t finish paying back before some of them are grandparents. Do our children really deserve this debt?
Next, we should swap “standard” for envy. We heard last night how LGISD “used to be the standard” and that “all other schools wanted to be us.” But trying to become the standard, as it was so glowingly articulated, is nothing short of attempting to be the envy of all other schools. Since when did envy, covetousness, and jealousy inform school policy? These are not noble ideals but sins which we are to mortify by Christ. Why does LGISD think we are in competition with other schools? Why can’t we just do the best we can with what we have before God and leave off all the covetous comparisons? If other kids have it better, so what? If other kids have it worse, so what? We should be content with what God has given us and so should they with what He gives them. “Keeping up with the Jones’s” is not the business of a school district.
Let’s swap “deserve” for entitled. One of the speeches from a LGISD Alum and parent repeatedly used the word “deserve” more times than I can count because I ran out of fingers and had my boots on. I don’t have a direct quote but the gist was “our children deserve the best.” If anyone thinks they are entitled to something, to such a degree that they have to take something from someone else so they can have it, that person is delusional. You need an example: “Don’t my children deserve the safest vehicles available to mankind? I mean, what child deserves a safe vehicle more than my children? True, I can only afford a beater for mine to drive…but they deserve so much better. Therefore, even though I can’t quite make ends meet what with my pastor’s salary and rampant local tax increases, I’m going to go buy them all the new Mercedes they deserve. Who cares if I won’t be able to pay it off? Afterall, they deserve it.” This reasoning is absurd and can only be used by people who won’t be paying the bill themselves. Which leads to my last word swap: Let’s swap “property tax” for what it really is…theft. We are being told that students deserve something and so the people of La Grange will have their stuff forcibly taken and applied to that entitlement. Could I suggest a different way to pay for entitlement than stealing other people’s stuff? How about the “C” rated LGISD work to deserve our free-will offerings? How about they clean all the porn out of the library and quit banning concerned taxpayers from important conversations? How about they teach every subject in reference to the resurrection and Lordship of Christ over all things? Then, they could present their needs without shame in a public format equipped with opportunities for residents to ask questions or volunteer to give or help. They could get feedback because, for the first time in a long time, they won’t have anything to hide. Why does the LG School Board think that force is the only way to get what is needful from residents? Do they think we are that miserly? Do they think they care more for children than parents do? Or do they know that what they are asking for is not needful at all. Any fool can see LGISD has a bad case of “I want it now” and we should tell them no. Honor Christ. Stop stealing. Spend less on porn. Deserve our money and we’ll give it to you.
A few years ago Yoakum ISD (years before they won state in football) built a sports complex that fit their needs, cost around 40 million dollars, and was paid for up-front and entirely by donations from parents and boosters. Yes it took the athletic director a few years to raise the funds…but good things come to those who wait. What a novel idea. People who can afford it, paying for what they want, and nobody else is forced to participate. Let’s try that model.
Voting “no” to more theft by property taxation is not a vote against the children of La Grange. It is a vote against tyranny. It is a vote to protect the property that those children will inherit, or that they will earn by the sweat of their brows, and that they will be able to pass on to their children unfettered by millions in debt. Love the children… and vote “no” for their sake.