Our Views: Support EBR schools tax

• Advocate Opinion page staff
• Published: Mar 2, 2008

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We urge voters to approve the proposed 10-year renewal of a 1-cent sales tax for the East Baton Rouge Parish school system on the March 8 ballot.

This is a tax renewal, not a tax increase. Renewing the 1-cent sales tax is important for the future of local public schools, and everyone in the region, even those without children in the school system, has a stake in public schools.

Without adequately supported public schools to train the workers of the future, Baton Rouge cannot expand its economy.

The proposed renewal again will be in the form of three propositions, mirroring the form it took when it originally was passed in 1998.

Proposition One would earmark 51 percent of the tax proceeds, or about $439 million during the life of the tax, to the repair, renovation and construction of schools. That funding is essential if the school system is to continue repairing or replacing inadequate facilities.

Proposition Two would set aside 8 percent of the tax proceeds, or about $69 million, to improve school discipline, provide for alternative education and reduce truancy in the schools. Such programs are essential to advance learning and improve student success.

Proposition Three would set aside 41 percent of the tax proceeds, or about $362 million, to help maintain current pay levels for teachers and other school system employees. Without approval of Proposition Three, teachers and other school employees would face a reduction in pay. Such a reduction would be devastating for a school system already struggling to compete with neighboring school systems that pay schoolteachers more.

The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is a mixed bag. Some schools have been nationally recognized, while others are failing. We suspect that here as elsewhere, many of the problems are driven by the challenging demographics of the student population, which includes many poor children from single-parent families.

Such obstacles do not absolve school officials from the obligation to advance academic performance, and we will continue to criticize school officials when, in our judgment, they fall short of the mark.

But we’re kidding ourselves if we blame the East Baton Rouge Parish school system for all the problems with student achievement. What’s more, denying the school system vital resources for buildings and staff will make matters worse.

That’s why we urge voters to approve these tax proposals on March 8.