As a longtime public school advocate, it grieves me to write this editorial urging voters to reject the upcoming parcel tax “Measure R” on the February ballot. We just passed a $268 million bond for SMMUSD. Malibu taxpayers will be paying back over $80 million of that bond, plus interest, over the term of the bond. However, because the bond language was vague and misleading, the politically controlled School Board was able to slash the funding allocated to Malibu schools to less than $15 million after the bond was passed.
For 20 more years, Malibu taxpayers will be paying over $65 million, plus interest, for bonds that Malibu schools will not see a dime of. Malibu pays over 31% of the debt, but is being allocated less than 6% of the proceeds. Little or nothing is being reserved for future facility needs for Malibu schools. They will simply tell us we need to pass another bond in the near future if we want our schools updated. Santa Monica schools, however, are being rebuilt. Malibu is a voting minority in our district, and its requests are ignored by a politically biased School Board.
We have already passed three school bonds, $75 million, $42 million, and $268 million, since MHS was established. We are still paying for over $10 million used for Santa Monica schools from the $75 million bond. According to my 2006 and 2007 tax bills, the unified school bond assessment has more than doubled in 2007 to $522 per million dollars of your home’s assessed value. Little or none of the $268 million bond is included in this amount. How much will it increase as the bond is sold? The School Board must provide honest answers, rectify its unfair allocation of the last bond and create a proposal that provides for the future needs of both cities’ schools before any new taxes should be passed. Taxation without representation is unacceptable. Vote “no” on Measure R and demand fairness and accountability! Unfortunately the time has come to separate our District and take control of our schools and tax money.
Janet Yerby