Minutes - 20031016 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

But if you can't, and you just want to put your hands up, just move to Chapel Hill where believe the school system, it might be a little better for you down here. Thank you. Robert Rosenberg: I came into here with an open mind about merger. I'm not for or against; I appreciate the opportunity to hear the arguments on both sides of the issue. guess the one point that seemed most important to me listening is the idea that informed change is likely to be stronger and more lasting than the imposed change that was mentioned earlier. You have the power to impose the change, but it seems to me that the likelihood of success in the long run is greater when we have an informed group of involved citizens. And having three debates doesn't seem enough time and enough debate to form an informed process. So I advocate that we do more of this, that this has been useful on both sides for us to hear the arguments either way, and I think that we can come to a stronger consensus, a democratic strong consensus, it we take the time to have this kind of debate and not rush the issue either way. James Wilde: My name is James Wilde; I'm perhaps the only speaker who doesn't have kids in school right now. But I've had three -I've been PTA President, I've been a member of the PTA Council. So I've had some history here after 38 years in Orange County. What I'd like to address is the funding differentials that exist and not the merger issue. There seems to be some confusion among some of the speakers and in the letters to the newspaper about the supplementary school tax which is levied in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. By State law, this tax cannot be activated without the approval of the County Commissioners. The 20 cents cannot be approved without the approval of the County Commissioners. Neither can the Orange County district impose an extra property tax for its citizens without the approval of the County Commissioners. Either or both of these districts can request such a tax at some level, but it won't be enacted unless the County Commissioners say yes. This is certain. What is less clear is how the Commissioners have handled a situation in which two districts see different levels of funding for their respective students. Let us be clear that the desired funding level can come from, differences in that funding request can come from a variety of sources. It may come from differences in income, it may come from differences in educational philosophy, and it may come from cost differences, property value differences, or just general priorities about how we wish to spend our money. Suppose, for instance, that the Orange County Schools wish to spend $3,000 of local funds for each of their children, a number which is, I think, perhaps a little bit in the ballpark of what happened this past year. While at the same time, Chapel Hill wished to spend $4,000 per student. I would like to know how the County Commissioners wrestle with these different requests. How should they handle that? This is something that only the County Commissioners at this point can wrestle with. But I'd like to suggest that equity is not the same thing as equality. I would like to suggest a solution in that case where Orange County wishes $3,000 per student and Chapel Hill $4,000 -that the County Commissioners approve $3,000 for the whole County funded by Countywide property taxes to get the kind of schools that Orange County wishes to have, and then approve a supplementary tax for Chapel Hill to give them the extra thousand that they wish. This would meet the wishes of all the citizens of this County. I suggest this is a fair result for all of Orange County.