By CHARLES ANDREWS
WHAT?!
Charles Andrews, why do you hate children? Why do you hate our schools?
I don’t. I’ve been blessed with two beautiful kids myself, and one of them went through our school system start to finish: SMASH K - 8, Samohi, SMC two years, graduating from UCLA. Summa cum laude, so her SMMUSD/SMC preparation must have been pretty good.
As far as I can tell, our schools are still pretty good, academically. I don’t have a problem with that. But our School Board asked us for, and received (SMS), nearly half a billion dollars ($485M) in school bonds money just six years ago, in 2018. After we had generously opened our pocketbooks to the tune of $385M six years before that (ES), in 2012. And six years before that, Measure BB, 2006, $286M. And now they are asking for another half a billion. That would bring the total, in 18 years, to more than $1.6B – vastly more with interest.
For a city of 90,000 people.
IT’S INSANE
Did you know none of that bond money can be used for teachers, curriculum, operating expenses, books, computers etc.? Nope. Only for buildings. Construction, and renovation. All the buildings must be perfect now, right?
Hardly. Just drive down Ocean Park Boulevard to 5th and see the new SMASH/John Muir school rising skyward. It had to be completely rebuilt because the district failed to fix the bad roofing that was allowing leakage into the walls resulting in mold and other damage. Sure enough. But that’s OK, we’ll just close it down and scatter the students and build a new one, bright and shiny. Because we have all this money, mountains of money, to spend however we want, these billions, with no restrictions, no oversight. No problem. When told years ago that there were toxins, PCBs, in the walls and soil at Malibu High School, the district then spent years and millions fighting the allegations, instead of years and millions cleaning it up.
Much of what the School Board is telling us they need this king’s ransom bond for are projects that were promised for previous bond measures, but never completed. For example, they promised to replace temporary classrooms, but got around to about half of them, and now are "promising" to convert only 15 more, still leaving 22 more. As that great philosopher George W once tried to say, "Fool me once…"
The AC was NOT working at Lincoln Auditorium, in sweltering temperatures, where they held a City Council candidates forum, with a promise of "air conditioning." So this doesn’t just affect our schools, but spills over. Turnout was very low, I was told. I also had reports that the AC was not working the next day in the $200M Discovery Building and the $93M Innovation Building, at Samohi.
SO HOW DID THEY DO?
With that half a billion dollars of our money from only six years ago? By many measures, not so good. As off the radar as school issues are for most voters, I hear more and more in the last few years of grumbling, enough! Not again, not another penny until we get some accountability, transparency, and community input. It would seem they have spent that huge amount of our money with blinders on, for their own agenda and master building plans, with no community direction that was paid any attention, and no real oversight. They have not been prudent stewards of our good faith giving. And now, with this proposed bond, we have to call a halt.
There is nothing in the wording of the bond that requires… anything, except construction. If they build more buildings – even ones not needed, even ones poorly designed, even ones that are defective, or if they use the money to purchase more land – they have fulfilled their "obligation." Oh sure, they have their laundry list of projects. But again, nothing is required of the SMMUSD Construction Company.
ARE YOU STARTING TO GET THE PICTURE?
There are lots more examples of this burning through our bond money without significant educational improvement. This is a tough thing to convince people of. School bond measures "always pass." But most voters don’t know they are paying only for buildings, not better education. Our School Board has taken this way over the cliff, and the only way to stop it is to vote NO this November on this bond measure. Let’s negotiate for some real oversight, let’s examine what has and hasn’t been done, and then proceed.
But for now – NO.
Charles Andrews has lived in Santa Monica for 38 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or rebuke to him at mailto:therealmrmusic@gmail.com
