Blue Ribbon Committee pushes for passage of 9.5-mill school levy
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — City voters have a choice, said Mayor Jay Williams.
They can choose to pay now to support the city school system or pay later to support the criminal justice system that must deal with those who fail to get an education and turn to crime, he said.
Williams is a member of a Blue Ribbon Committee of local elected officials, entrepreneurs and others calling for voters to support the city school district’s 9.5-mill levy on the Nov. 6 ballot.
The committee held a news conference Thursday at the Youngstown Business Incubator to publicly announce that support.
No one is excited about additional taxes, but there is a price to be paid, Williams said. People can pay now to provide additional funding for the five-year length of the levy or pay the price to the criminal justice system, he said.
It’s only a question of when we pay and to whom we pay, the mayor said, adding that there is an obligation to provide education and resources to children.
He made reference to recent fights reported in some schools, saying that it is his understanding that the problems are being caused by a few.
The city will work with the schools to deal with those individuals, Williams said.
The Rev. Scott Signor, a committee member and associate pastor of New Beginnings Assembly of God, said he’s lived in Youngstown for 20 years, has had two children graduate from the city schools and has six more coming up through the system.
Voting for the levy is an investment in young people and the future of this city, he said.
June Johnson of Youngstown is also a member of the committee and a member of the state fiscal oversight commission. That commission is controlling school district finances because the district is in fiscal emergency. She has two children in the city schools.
The children must be given every opportunity to learn, Johnson said, urging levy passage.
Dr. David C. Sweet, president of Youngstown State University and also a committee member, said the community needs to support every child in the schools, with a goal of getting 100 percent of them into college or some form of higher education.
There’s an adage that says it is better to invest in children than to repair adults, said Dr. Wendy Webb, Youngstown schools superintendent.
Education is the only solution to economic and other problems facing this area, she said, pointing out that the levy isn’t about her or any of the people on the Blue Ribbon Committee. It’s about the children who will be the future of this community, she said.
gwin@vindy.com