I’m so busy I can barely find time to enter a decent blog post. That makes it very gratifying when I find someone else’s writing that can fill the void.
This column in the Trib today by Gary Glass is right on target. It’s so good I’ve got to post it in its entirety:
School Board member’s view: Red plan funding no miracle
By: Gary Glass, Duluth News Tribune
Last week, the Duluth School Board voted to obligate district taxpayers for an additional $167.7 million in principal plus interest on the last third of the red plan (“Board approves last red plan bond sale,” Sept. 18). The board appears to be racing to sell the bonds and sign the last construction contracts before voters have a chance to elect new School Board members in November. Superintendent Keith Dixon has been assuring everyone no one can stop the red plan.
To make voters feel better, we have been told the red plan is a fiscal miracle that will almost pay for itself through savings. These savings are to come from energy efficiencies and the elimination of unnecessary staff.
The board was positively giddy to hear of the favorable rates available for bonds. It was as though the hand of God had blessed them. Why, our administrators even call the red plan’s finance document “the Bible.” Like its namesake, the document is mighty, authoritative and inerrant. It dictates a lockstep program to implement the red plan without the obligation of a public vote. There can be no compromises. “The Bible” must be followed through its complex legal web to give Johnson Controls its predetermined percentages of the total costs for the biggest school building project in Minnesota history.
The $35 million bonds plus $20 million in interest for 10 “like-new” schools must be repaid with operating funds and property sales. It will require $2.7 million per year to be drawn from the operations budget savings. That’s the equivalent of 30 full-time teachers lost to teaching each and every year for the next 20 years. Ah, but what about the savings? Even the Minnesota Department of Education didn’t buy the district’s hype that energy and staff savings for this $55 million and required $23 million to come from selling off property. If that doesn’t materialize, more teachers will have to be cut.
The School Board was needed only to rubber stamp a plan shrouded in mystery. Two years ago, the administration didn’t bother to show the initial red plan to the School Board when it was sent to the state education department for “review and comment.” Ditto for the latest $71 million piece covering the new Piedmont/Lincoln Park elementary and western middle schools. This review-and-comment document was sent to the state six months ago, but the School Board got its first look last week.
I categorically disagreed with School Board Chairman Tim Grover’s explanation in a commentary Sept. 1 “Glass confuses the issues”) that my analysis of the red plan’s finances was inaccurate. To the contrary. Grover took as gospel that promised savings are assured. That assurance is built on faith, faith based on unseen public data the district administration refuses to provide.
Despite being a School Board member – a minority of one – I have been denied access to public data (including the basis for the review-and-comment documents) that could prove whether district promises have merit. Pardon my skepticism, but when a salesman refuses to offer proof of claims I won’t buy.
Unfortunately, the district’s attorneys discovered a glitch in the law to force customers to buy without having any say. My skepticism is fed by withheld information, closed agenda meetings and ill-informed decision-making. I fail to see how turning teachers into brick and mortar will help our children learn.
Maybe Superintendent Dixon is wrong. Maybe bigger, crowded classes are not what new School Board members will support. Maybe more teachers are needed to close the achievement gaps and implement more effective teaching techniques for better student outcomes.
A new School Board majority could adopt an alternative plan like Plan B, which emphasizes teaching first and then building repair. That can only happen if a new school Board majority is elected on Nov. 3.
Gary Glass is an At Large member of the Duluth School Board.
