On July 15, 2015, the Walnut Valley Unified School District board (the Board) placed a $208,000,000 bond measure on the ballot for November 3, 2015.
In the prelude to the decision, the Board produced and distributed a slick, glossy mailer that did in fact gloss over the details.
Following the decision, the Board produced and distributed another slick, glossy mailer to memorialize the gloss in the first mailer.
You paid for both of those mailers.
Now it's up to you, the voters. The same voters that have been fooled time and time again. Of course, it's for the children.
We'll compare the spin to the facts. We'll look at the district and the people who run it. (It's not the Board.) We'll look at how it's been run in the past. We may also look at Common Core State Standards (Common Core), to the extent that it may be driving this bond.
The Board has had the upper hand in framing the issue up until now.
From the July 2015 mailer (inside page 2):
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LOCAL CONTROL, LOCAL OVERSIGHT# All money raised by the measure will stay in our local schools to support our students, and cannot be taken away by the state or used for administrators' salaries or benefits.
# The average tax rate is estimated to be $48.50 per $100,000 of assessed (not market) value annually. The new bond measure, in combination with all other voter-approved local school bond measures, will not increase current tax rates.
# This measure requires a clear system of accountability, including a project list detailing exactly how the money will be used, an independent Citizens's Bond Oversight Committee, and annual public audits to ensure money is spent properly.
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Sounds like you have nothing to worry about, right?
Well, maybe not so fast.
Each of those items are required by statute. The Board didn't do those things because it's looking out for you. It did those things because, if it didn't, it would be breaking the law.
Imagine a salesman coming to your door and telling you that if you buy today, you have three days to think about it and if you decide against buying it, you can cancel any time before the three days are up. That certainly sounds like a good deal. He didn't tell you anything that wasn't true. What he didn't tell you is that he's required by statute to give you three days to change your mind. If you didn't know the statute, it sounds like he's giving something. If you knew the statute, you'd understand that he's just doing what's required of him.
So, the Board is giving you just part of the story -- the part that makes it seem like it's looking out for your interests. That puts things in a little bit of a different light, doesn't it?
Naturally, once you discover one these revelations, you begin to wonder about other statements that are being made.
