After my moderate 10% budget reduction was proposed and soundly defeated, Ian Freeman voiced an alternative solution for fixing our broken school system. One with which I am entirely in agreement with. Earlier in the evening someone had mentioned “in order to fix the problem one must think outside the box.” And that’s exactly what Ian brought to the table. The school bureaucrats and bootlickers in attendance were not amused.
This past Monday I attended the annual school budget and warrant meeting here in Keene, NH. (My first) In this meeting the various articles up for vote, including the budget, were available for discussion, debate and possible amendment by the attendees. Most of the evening was spent on Article 1: the proposed 2013/14 budget and most of the proposed amendments were focused on increasing the new year’s budget, but there were a few dissidents within the crowd who voiced some opposition. I, myself, proposed a 10% reduction in next year’s school budget. After all, the private sector has been forced to make radical changes in these lean years. Why not government as well?
My proposal was soundly defeated but I walked away with some valuable insight on how the machine functions . With another dozen liberty loving individuals in attendance, we probably could have proposed an amendment to reduce the budget to equal last year’s spending. With 40 or more, we could have reduced the budget by 2-5%. With 80, we could have reduced the budget by 10% (or 6.3 million dollars.) If you have any doubts, look to the current success story in Grafton, NH.
Please note that every motion to increase the budget was also defeated. If it were not for the small handful of free staters in attendance, the budget would have most likely increased by another $170,000.
1. Wacky Oregon bill to make nicotine prescription only.
2. New England cops losing their guns in restrooms.
3. Connecticut father says you can have his gun. From his cold dead hands.
4. Pope Benedict throws in the hat.
5. Ridley says keep those cameras rolling.
6. Deep thoughts with Lysander Spooner.
1. Darryl’s petition filed away, Never to be seen again.
2. Military and police perform suspicious drills in Houston and Miami for your protection.
3. No balanced budget? No pay.
4. Alex Schaefer makes a stand.
This past Saturday, I called in to WKBK’s Talkback to discuss the bloated 2013 school budget with School Board Chair, Chris Coates. As of now, they have only two options on the table for us to vote on in March. Both involve increases in the tax rate. As usual, there is no 3rd option. Are you surprised?
Both Chris and Board Financier, Ann Szot, have said on many occasions that we should call our representatives in order to get this problem resolved. Typical pass the blame. Apparently the board made some poor spending decisions that have come back to bite them (like an unnecessary 40 million dollar elementary school with half of the funding coming from the state) And now the State is reneging on its funding.
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