Dear Editor,
Education is the foundation of success in our society. While the quality of teaching is the most essential component, the comfort of the environment is equally vital. In Santa Monica, however, we're being asked to support costly infrastructure measures that should never have been necessary.
The City and the school district should have, for decades, planned for and actively provided maintenance and upgrades as part of every annual budget. They didn't. The result is deteriorated buildings and facilities that, now, require raising money through a bond measure whose long term, burdened cost will far exceed what should have been anticipated and allocated for annual expenditures.
We have, as a nation, declined in educational achievement. In international evaluations, U. S. students' reading, math, and science skills fall below those of pupils in countries like Singapore, Estonia, Poland, and Canada. We used to watch "The G. E. College Bowl" and know the answers. Now we're challenged to offer correct responses on "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader," a show that went off the air because viewers felt — rightfully — dumb.
So, unfortunately, we need to pay the price to ensure our children's and the nation's ability to compete on a global stage. Yet, as voters, we need to remain diligent.
We must impose and maintain pressure on elected officials to do in the future what they neglected to do in the past: provide sufficient annual funding for every aspect of education and keep facilities — in the spirit of "a stitch in time saves nine" — properly maintained, reliable, and safe.
Peter Altschuler, Santa Monica
