From the article:
In Eastern Washington, voters are being asked to approve school district
levies in a Feb. 14 election. Spokane residents might have seen one or
two or 10 billion signs about it strategically placed around the city. I
saw a “vote yes for kids” sign at City Hall, tacked to the incoming
side of the city bulletin board. I mentioned it to a woman at the
counter, and she took it down. Twice on its front page, The Spokesman-Review published pro-levy material that (to a journalist), can only be seen as full-page advertisements. First was “Anatomy of a Levy.” Then there was “Faces of a Levy.” Where can it go from there? Ears of a Levy? Elbows of a Levy? Butt-cheeks of a Levy? Education money has NOT been cut; it’s been shifted.
We can thank legislators for some of the shift, but districts also were
allowed to shift dollars away from actual learning, and so they did.
Now, they want more dollars.
Examine the budgets and see where the money went.
Not all certificated positions are classroom teachers, and not all
dollars for “teaching” are classroom expenditures. Included are a flood
of useless curricula and supplementary material, plus school directors,
executive directors, associate superintendents, assistant
superintendents, instructional coaches, assistant principals and layers
of administrators who aren’t held responsible for the results of their
policies and curriculum choices.