Children deserve adequate facilities

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http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/nov00/refs-edit110400.asp

Children deserve adequate facilities

From the Journal Sentinel

Last Updated: Nov. 4, 2000

At least two cliches apply to the school building referendums that voters in

the Oconomowoc area and New Berlin will face on Tuesday. The first is

" Nothing lasts forever. " The second is from the motor oil TV ad in which the

mechanic says, " You can pay me now or you can pay me later. "

For those two reasons, we recommend " Yes " votes in both referendums.

Neither bill will be cheap, but cheap won't give students the education they

need to meet the challenges of a global economy. Children and educators

deserve reasonable and adequate facilities to help them do their jobs. And

maintaining old and inadequate facilities only costs more in the long run.

Oconomowoc voters face the bigger bill, but that district's building plan is

more comprehensive. One of the questions calls for building three new

schools - two elementary schools and a middle school - and an auditorium at

a cost of $44.5 million. A second question asks voters to allow the district

to exceed the state-imposed limit on the tax levy - by $500,000 in 2001-'02

and $875,000 annually after that - so the district will have the money to

maintain those and other buildings.

The newest building in the district was built in 1965. That's the high

school, where a new auditorium would go. Of the buildings that will be

replaced, one elementary school was built in 1911, another in 1962 as a

monastery and the middle school in 1923.

Now, it's true that the Great Pyramids at Giza still stand, but those are

monuments visited by tourists; they don't see much active use. And unless

Oconomowoc voters want to build monuments to failed education, they will see

to it that the buildings their kids actively use are adequate for their

needs.

Yes, the district could keep using and maintaining these antiquated

structures. Kids could continue to exercise in hallways rather than gyms;

roofs could continue to leak; orchestra students could continue to practice

in school basements.

But that would cost more money in the long run than building now, and the

district would eventually have to replace the buildings anyway, at an even

higher cost. It's much better to foot the bill now.

The same holds true in New Berlin, where the district - in the wake of last

spring's defeat of a more comprehensive solution to its problems - is taking

a more piecemeal approach. The referendum question there asks voters to

approve building a new $8.55 million Elmwood Elementary School.

At Elmwood, rusty rainwater - the kids call it " blood water " - seeps from

the ceiling, which sags in places; tiles crumble; steel walls rust; teachers

find mold on their instructional materials; all-school assemblies are not

held because there's no single space big enough in the school. And city

planners are expecting hundreds of new homes in the Elmwood area in the near

future.

Apparently, there are those who will vote against this referendum because it

will raise their annual taxes by, say, $30 a year. We would say the kids at

Elmwood are worth an additional $30 a year, but we'd probably be accused of

being mushy-headed liberals who actually see some value in public education.

And the accusers would be right. We do think education is worth a little

sacrifice. And we hope voters show their agreement by voting " yes " on

Tuesday.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Nov. 5, 2000.