From: Ron Patberg
Columbus
Columbus has led the way for decades in making this an excellent place to live. Sure, we fall short on some measures, but we don’t claim to be “Unexpected – Unforgettable” without good reason.
June 2 is our day to vote for a referendum to boost teachers’ pay through a bump in our property taxes. The current short-term economic outlook seems dire and adding additional cost seems stressful. However, if we invest too little in our children’s education the outcome could be negative both for their life chances and for our future productivity.
Bartholomew County needs to attract better and better teachers. Experienced teachers are leaving the occupation and future teachers are staying away due to pay. Our school system has had to replace over 65% of our teachers since 2014. We have seen too many high potential, high quality young teachers choose other school districts because we offer a less than competitive salary and benefit package.
To keep Columbus the excellent place to live that it has been, we need to reward the best teachers for choosing us, not give them a reason to look elsewhere.
Asking taxpayers to pay for something that they don’t feel they use daily is difficult. Great schools, however, bring all of us so much more. Yes, there are many voters without school-aged children, including my family, not receiving any direct benefits from this referendum. However, the benefits that pour over to the rest of us from excellent schools are far-reaching: higher property values, the ability to retain the best and brightest who grow up here, improved quality of life, and increased attractiveness to businesses and individuals.
I firmly believe that the key to realizing these benefits is the quality of the education. The quality of education starts with our teachers. Besides parents taking an active role in their children’s education, our teachers have the most impact and influence on our student’s achievement.
As a financial planner, I’m sure I’m like most people always looking for the best deal.
Sometimes it is OK to look for the cheaper brand to save a few bucks. However, with important purchases having long-term consequences, it pays to buy higher quality when you can.
This referendum calls for an increase in taxes of only 0.156% of the value of our property. This is not an expense. It is an investment.
We owe it to ourselves, our community, our teachers, our children and grandchildren to pay a little extra to reward, attract and retain quality educators and receive the direct and indirect benefits in return. I will vote “YES” on June 2.
