Sunday, March 05, 2000
Cincinnati Public Schools levies
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Public Schools will seek two levies totaling nearly $104 million a year to decrease class size, fix facilities, expand reading and math programs, and fund other operating expenses.
In a campaign that promises “Better Schools for a Better Future,” district officials say passing the levies is crucial to continuing progress the 45,600-student district has made in recent years.
• The first levy, which will appear as Issue 15 on the ballot, is a five-year, 10.9-mill levy that would raise $65.1 million annually. It combines two existing emergency levies — $19.4 million and $46 million — that will expire in the next two years. It would cover current operating expenses, such as general maintenance, classroom teachers and other staff. Because it would renew existing taxes, it would not affect tax bills; it represents $333 on the annual tax bill of a $100,000 house.
• The second levy, which will appear as Issue 16 on the ballot, is a permanent 6.5-mill tax increase that would raise $38.8 million annually. It would lower class size in kindergarten through third grade, beef up reading and math programs in primary grades, fix facilities and cover inflation. It would boost the annual tax bill on a $100,000 house about $199.
If both levies are approved, the district would restore a $180-per-pupil cut made last spring.
If voters do not pass both levies, administrators warn, they might have to cut up to $18 million in spending. Administrators already slashed $20 million in spending last spring, affecting textbooks to teaching staff, after deciding to forgo seeking a levy in May.
“There's no way we could make any cuts that wouldn't affect students at this point,” district Treasurer Richard Gardner said.
Voters in November defeated a $24 million, 4.5-mill levy, with 52 percent opposing it. Most was a tax increase. Voters have approved 12 of the 16 levies CPS sought since 1980.
“We want people to reach deep down in their souls where beauty begins and look at the importance of education for children,” said Bob Brown, president of Cincinnatians Active to Support Education, (CASE), the political action committee working to pass the levies.
“There is no reason for people to hurt children and damage or break a system. We want to improve and reinvent the Cincinnati Public Schools system, and that takes money and dedication.”
Recent achievement gains warrant public support, Mr. Brown added. Suspensions are down, and proficiency test scores — although still low in many schools — are rising. The SAT scores of CPS college-bound students also are up.
But some residents may prove impervious to persuasion.
“Giving Cincinnati Public Schools more money is like putting a Band-Aid on a dike,” said Alberta Day of Sedamsville, who said she will vote against both levies. “We don't need to put more money into a failing system. We need to come up with something new.”
Members of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, (COAST), who successfully torpedoed the CPS levy bid in the fall, have started raising money to fight the March levies.
The levy failed in November even though district supporters outspent COAST by nearly 17-to-1. CASE spent nearly $337,000, while COAST spent $20,000, primarily on radio ads.
Anti-tax activists have said the district does not deserve more money because it has some of the region's highest-paid teachers and lowest student achievement. Meanwhile, enrollment continues its decadelong decline; CPS lost about 1,600 students since last year.
Administrators emphasize that the levy package is based on projections of a continued enrollment decline.
The district received a boost in state support this year after a 20-year trend of stagnation or minimal growth.
But the increase was offset by new unfunded state mandates and cuts in other state funding, officials say. For example, the state now requires districts to set aside a percentage of its revenues for emergencies. State support provides 41 percent of district revenues; federal, 1 percent; and local, 58 percent.
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