paying for education
Editorial By Shaila Creekmore, Illustration By Brittney Guest

Many people have a misconception about public education. Most people believe it is free when in fact it is not. Public education is paid for entirely through taxes collected by federal, state and local governments.

In Arkansas, the majority of the funds coming into local schools are paid through property taxes based on the mills approved by voters within that school district. These mills differ from district to district and are paid by home, land and business owners.

On Sept. 21, two local schools will hold a vote to ask their residents to approve millage increases. Jonesboro Public Schools is asking voters to approve a 3.1 mill increase and Valley View Schools is asking for a 4.9 mill increase.

Why should you vote for these millage increases?

In the Jonesboro district, those increased mills will build a new fine arts center and four new classrooms at Jonesboro High School, build a new kitchen, cafeteria and six new classrooms at Annie Camp Junior High, make improvements to the hallways and classrooms and replace worn sidewalks at MacArthur Junior High, add a new kitchen and four classrooms at International Studies, make improvements to the hallways, classrooms and media center at Visual and Performing Arts, install new roofing panels and make interior improvements at the Kindergarten Center, and the Hurricane Gym will receive a new roof, interior upgrades, construct a new entrance and modernize parking lot lights. The total estimated cost for all the construction purposed is $18,560,000 or 2.7 mills. The remaining .4 mills will purchase two buses annually to upgrade the JPS fleet.

Jonesboro Public Schools has remained at 30 mills since 1988, the last approved millage increase. Just in the last six years, the district has had an 11 percent increase in student population and it is projected to increase another 11 percent in less than 10 years. For the average homeowner, the district estimates that they will see a $60 or less increase on their taxes, or less than $5 per month.

Valley View School district is asking for a millage increase to meet its demands for an ever growing district. In recent years, the district has built a new elementary school, fine arts center, football stadium and is now completing an athletic facility to meet its growing needs. The last two building projects totaled more than $12 million and were met with no millage increase which depleted much of the districts reserves. The district says in order to continue with the growth, it must have an increase to build a new high school and thereby also decrease the strain on the lower grades by expanding into existing space. In 2010, Valley View graduated 134 students. In the same year, the kindergarten class was more than 200. Where will the district place the larger classes of students as they move through the school system?

So you’re not a parent, why should this concern you? Because better educated children become more productive citizens. Jonesboro has seen tremendous growth in the last few decades as business and industry continue to move into the area because of its educated workforce and building potential provided by our local government and Chamber of Commerce. This educated work force is a direct result of the first-rate school systems in our city, but they cannot continue to educate at these high levels without meeting the needs of our growing city through increased funding.

If you are a parent, I encourage you to get involved in your child’s school. Become a member of your school’s parent organization to stay better connected with your school and know what is happening within its doors each day, and when possible, find a way to volunteer.

To borrow an analogy used by this year’s Valley View PTA president, “You would never drop your child off at the doctor and expect them to tell you everything about that appointment. But 180 days a year, we do just that. We drop our children off at the school door and expect them to tell us everything going on about their education.”

To learn more about the Sept. 21 millage vote, Jonesboro residents can go to www.yesforjps.com for information. Valley View Schools will hold a public meeting on Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center to discuss its proposed millage increase.