Local unions voice their support for MCCSC referendum

Job cuts, extracurricular cuts, pay cuts — Monroe County Community School Corporation has had to deal with all of these in the past year. They have tried various fundraisers, but some believe more should be done.

Twelve labor unions representatives met in the Monroe County Courthouse on Thursday to voice support for Public Question No. 2, which will be on the Nov. 2 ballot.

In 2009, it was announced that the MCCSC would face a funding shortage of $5.8 million by the end of 2010.

The cause of this, according to a pamphlet produced by South Central Indiana Jobs with Justice, was a 2008 state law that changed the source of public school funds from property taxes to income and sales taxes and lottery funds.

The switch from a stable source of funding to an unstable source, as well as a poor state economy, hit the school budgets hard.

“There’s a great disparity in funding for public education in this state,” said Terry Spradlin, associate director for education policy at IU’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy in a panel Tuesday.

The referendum that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot will target MCCSC. If passed, the referendum would add a maximum of 14 cents of tax per $100 of value of local property every year for six years. The money from this tax would go straight to the MCCSC.

“This is in the best interest for the public good,” Linda Richardson, president of Monroe County Education Association, said.

She urged those at the meeting to vote not only for Public Question No. 2, but also for all candidates in the upcoming elections that have shown support for public education.

Milton Fisk, facilitator of SCIJJ, noted a 2008 study by Rand Corporation that was published by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce in May 2010.

This study attributed several social changes to a one-year increase in average educational level in a certain community. Among these were 27 percent fewer murders and 20 percent fewer motor vehicle thefts.

Jackie Yenna, president of the White River Central Labor Council, acknowledged that some voters will be reluctant to vote for an increase in taxes while the state economy still struggles.

“We have to remember not to think of it not as a referendum on our taxes, but as an investment in our children and our future,” Yenna said.