The students at Malibu High School held a celebration last week for being named one of America’s Top 100 High Schools. It was a proud moment. I lead off with that because I truly believe that our advocacy efforts should be about the kids. I think that sentiment has gotten lost lately in the anger over the allocation of bond (BB) monies and the debate over the parcel tax renewal. I am as disappointed and frustrated as anyone about what has transpired to date with the BB allocations and have spoken out at many School Board and BB Advisory Council meetings. As someone following the actions very closely, I do believe that the BB monies will be restored to Malibu. And there’s the issue of Malibu becoming its own district. Again, separate but related. As one of the leaders of the “MUST” movement a few years ago, I know that if we do become our own district, it will be at least 4 years down the road, we need the local funding (in the form of this parcel tax) during that period. Supporting local control and this parcel tax go hand in hand. Which brings up a fourth separate-but-related issue that completes the perfect Bermuda Square-the budget coming down from Sacramento, which cuts $400 million from this year’s education budget and $4.4 billion from next year’s budget. This will most definitely mean immediate cuts to our schools, and is, unfortunately, not something we have direct control over. We do have control of getting local funding that our Malibu schools desperately need in the form of Measure R. To sum up, we have top schools and we all want them to continue to stand out when compared with other schools, whether our kids attend them or our property values benefit from their strength (or both). A Yes vote on Measure R is a vote for our kids and the schools in our community. Period.
Sandy Thacker
PTSA President, Malibu High School