From: Rhonda Fischer
Columbus
Data shows those with higher education have more options and generally higher incomes, whether that’s at the personal or national level. The United States’ education rankings have been falling by international standards over the past three decades, as we decrease our funding and other countries increase their education funding (see National Center for Education Statistics’ International Comparisons).
We cannot all afford Ivy League degrees, but collectively we can provide our youth with the fundamental education they need to compete globally with or without a college degree.
Both in terms of funding and overall support, it feels like (and our schools are telling us) we’re coasting on our past education investments, and it’s time to put on the gas before it’s too difficult to get the momentum back.
Most of us who grow up here, stay here. Across the state and nation, property taxes are used for local projects and services; they do not go to federal and state budgets. Applying our hard earned money locally enables our economy to be healthy and grow. The places with higher property taxes are often the growth areas.
For example, in Indiana, Hamilton County collects the highest property taxes (and they have great schools). Texans pay close to twice our property tax rate and they’re a high growth state. We’re sensitive to our farmers who may be in debt way past the point of comfort and grandparents raising their grandchildren on a fixed income. However, the only way our property and jobs are going to be worth more in the future is if this region continues to have healthy growth.
Investing in our education is not something we want to do cheaply, it’s an investment we want to do right. As the saying goes, “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance”.
