Siegel: Response to Sen. Smith on MUSD override

By Murray Siegel

Sen. Smith, in his opinion piece of Aug, 18, states that he opposes the MUSD override because our taxes are already too high and he further suggests that the district look at its “A” schools to see what can be done to improve those schools within the district that have lower grades. The one thing he does not mention is where his children attend school. I am told that they attend the Legacy School which is notan MUSD school. So, it appears he does not value the district’s schools for his family, but feels qualified to advise withholding funds to improve these schools.

Sen. Smith believes that we are Taxed Enough Already (that is the TEA in the TEA Party) and cannot see a small addition to our taxes to improve the schools where he refuses to send his children. Allow an analogy to demonstrate the foolishness of this stance. Suppose that you are already spending $5,000 a year on prescription medicines and your physician recommends a new drug that will relieve that painful symptom of an allergy you have. If that drug would cost an additional $2,400 per year, would you refuse to purchase the medicine since you are already paying enough for prescriptions? Your answer would probably be that if the medicine works, the additional expenditure is worth it.  If you want to argue against the override, tell the public why the new funds will not improve the learning in the district schools. If you cannot demonstrate that the override funds will not help, then do not recommend a “no” vote!

Now, about looking at the A schools to improve the performance of schools whose grade is less than A. The only A school in MUSD is Pima Butte ES. How will looking at an elementary school help the two middle schools and the high school improve their grades? Also, it is well established that the performance of a school can be influenced by the family incomes and parental education levels of students attending that school.  A school with a large contingent of students from affluent families has different needs than a school where a majority of the students are on free lunch.  It would appear that Sen. Smith’s recommendation has little value.

Given that the “taxed enough already” is weak, and that looking at the one A school to improve the other district schools is useless, and given that Sen. Smith’s own children do not attend MUSD school, let us all disregard his advice and vote “yes” on the override.

Murray Siegel is a resident of Maricopa.