Monday, December 10, 2007

Columbia School Board to Meet Tonight!

About three years ago, the Columbia Public School Board decided to join about 240 other districts to sue the state for more money. Interesting enough, they were using state money to sue the state for more money.

Tonight is the night for Columbia to decide if they will remain part of the appeal. TheColumbia Tribune describes the opinions of the board members. Several board members disagree with the case and will vote against appealing. Some other board members have expressed concern but have not said which way they will vote.

One concern is for a request on the April ballot. The district would like to seek an operating levy increase. If they continue with this case and waste more money, voters may see this as being inappropriate with their spending. And I agree.


I adamantly hope they pull out of this case. The money that has already been spent is over $4.6 million and that will just increase the longer the case continues. Our schools are facing hard times right now. We need to focus our energy on a solution, not throw money on top of the problem. Research has shown that more funding does not result in increased achievement or graduation rates.


Unfortunately, the money already spent on this case is gone. But there is still hope to not waste anymore. I guess we will see tonight how the school board votes.

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