What can school boards learn from defeat of levies?

Reading too much into election results can be a risky business, but not paying attention to the results carries a greater danger.
The results that appeared in this paper a week ago demand that elected officials, especially school boards, take notice. Every additional operating issue for schools in the three-county area was rejected. Renewals passed by narrow margins, and in two cases, even renewals were defeated. Two bond issues to finance the construction of new schools passed. In Warren, the key to passage was that the state will match local dollars by about four-to-one. In Austintown, a majority of voters was convinced that the 87-year-old middle school building had to be replaced.
The most elementary reading of these results is that voters are just "taxed off." A number of police, fire and road issues were also defeated by voters in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
But acknowledging that voters don't like to pay taxes gets no one anywhere.
Rejection is increasing
Taxes have never been popular, and yet over the years, a majority of people have voted for tax issues, most notably for schools, countless times. By the same token, some voters have consistently voted against school taxes simply because they could. Most other taxes are levied by elected representatives and voters have only an indirect voice in those issues.
As the percentage of proponents and opponents of school levies shift, local boards of education must ask themselves why.
Certainly an argument can me made that Ohio's system of taxation should be changed. Indeed, that argument was made successfully before the Supreme Court of Ohio. But after the General Assembly and the administration refused to respond, the court essentially threw up its hands and let the case die.
And while there is talk of making another run at school finance reform in the state, getting results could take another decade, and within a year, or two or, at most, five, virtually every school district in the tri-county area is going to face an unbalanced budget.
The only way to balance a budget is to cut expenses or increase revenue. The primary expense of any school district is personnel -- between 80 and 90 percent of a school district's operating budget goes to its employees.
School boards face the daunting task of convincing their voters that they need every employee that they have on staff and that every employee is worth every dollar he or she is being paid.
Every administrator, every teacher, every coach, secretary, janitor or bus driver must be an essential part of the educational program. We believe that in most cases they are, but boards of education have to make the case to their voters.
Some must get tough
We also believe that some school boards have been less than tough negotiators with their employees. Families whose income has been stagnant or has dropped are less likely to vote for new taxes in district where employees have consistently gotten pay raises above the rate of inflation. Families without medical coverage themselves are not likely to support new taxes in districts where employees make no contributions to runaway health insurance costs.
Most voters still recognize the value that good schools bring to their communities. They also recognize an obligation to educate the next generation, and most recognize that good public schools have helped make America great.
But it is up to each school district to convince a majority of the voters that every dollar is necessary and that every dollar is being spent wisely. To the extent that they do, the likelihood increases for getting a levy approved.