Youngstown schools given chance to prove themselves

It took four tries for the Youngstown City School District to persuade the voters that additional revenue was needed to prevent a complete economic collapse of the fiscally challenged system. But, even though a 9.5-mill, four-year property tax levy was approved Tuesday night, the 1,812-vote margin cannot be viewed as a vote of confidence.

The arguments put forth by the administration and members of the board of education for the passage of the levy were compelling. The district is in state-mandated fiscal emergency, has been under the control of a state fiscal oversight commission for the past two years and owes the state $12.7 million. This year, it will have to borrow an additional $10.4 million.

Approval of the 9.5-mill levy will enable the school district to pay off the state with the $5.3 million to be generated each year. Once that debt is erased from the books, the school district’s budget should stop bleeding red ink. Major strides have been taken to not only cut out wasteful spending, but also reduce the operational costs of the district.

In 2007, 176 positions — 33 administrative and 143 teacher and other posts — were eliminated for a savings of $5 million. That’s real money and a real commitment on the part of decision makers to show taxpayers that they are serious about ending the fiscal emergency that has burdened the district.

Election turnout

Given all that has been done, we are surprised that the levy did not pass by a larger margin. Indeed, the administration and the board have President-elect Barack Obama to thank for the successful outcome Tuesday. Obama’s candidacy was responsible for a huge turnout in the city of Youngstown, especially among blacks, and that made the difference.

Organizers of the levy campaign made sure that the voters did not forget the school system when they cast their ballot.

But with the passage comes a challenge for the district: to make sure the trust of those who voted for the levy is not violated.

There is a lot of work to be done. The urban school district is under academic watch, which means that students aren’t meeting state proficiency standards.

While Superintendent Dr. Wendy Webb and her staff have been working hard to institute programs to aid in the learning process, there is much work to be done.

In addition, the relative closeness of the vote Tuesday suggests that taxpayers aren’t entirely convinced that the district has the right spending priorities. It is a fact that more than 80 percent of the operating budget goes for salaries and benefits, but we would caution the board against making promises to those on the public payroll about future contracts.

The voters who approved the levy will not take kindly to having pay raises and other benefits being increased while the economy locally and nationally is in shambles, unemployment rates are rising and concessions are the reality of the private sector job market.