disclaimer: so as a journalist i present my stories in an un-biased manner. you’re probably laughing at that, but seriously, I try to. so please let me indulge in a very biased blog post, as a person and not a reporter…
I have covered two different Oklahoma school bond referendums in the past few months it seems. Both failed by HUGE margins, the most recent one Tuesday night. These are both very small towns in very rural communities. Poverty and low-income families are higher in rural communities. I get that. Money is very hard these days. BELIEVE ME, I get that too.
What’s hard is that in Sherman, they are seeing the fruits of a $300+ million bond. I know Texas and OK fund education differently. And Sherman is a much bigger district than either of the two.
When I was in high school, voters in my suburban Fort Worth district approved a very large bond referendum as well. The school got new computers, renovated locker rooms, a new wing of the school entirely, and probably tons more.
I know the income levels are very different in all three groups of places. But any kid, any teacher, is definitely more motivated and excited when they are in a newer building with the latest technology. I’ve gone to schools with crappy buildings and the education was still good, but there was still this ghetto, laughable element.
It’s harder to get new industries to areas where it doesn’t seem evident the schools are kept up. Harder to attract good teachers. Harder then to have higher paying jobs in the area. It’s cyclical. Maybe these smaller towns wouldn’t be so poor if they made this investment for a better one on the whole!
I guess too it seems unfair that I got to go to a school with all the nice stuff, teachers, and curriculum, when these kids in rural areas are seeming to get the schist. I’m sure the quality of instruction is still good, but the kids can’t help it if the taxpayers don’t pay for it. But those adults were once students in the town, used the same buildings so they must not think it’s a big deal.
This is a long post, but I had these saddened reactions to both bond failures and couldn’t figure out why. Now I’m understanding the reason.
One of the speakers at the DNC last night told a story about a guy returning to his small Virginia hometown because the IT job there was too good to pass up. There is so much poverty and injustice all over the world. So much in the inner-city. But there are resources lacking in rural areas too. It’s just really been on my heart.
