A big win for public education in West Virginia

 In what was a clear case of people power versus money power, West Virginia voters overwhelmingly rejected two state constitutional measures on the ballot this election day that would have (further) threatened public education in West Virginia.

Amendment 2 would have given the legislature the power to eliminate business equipment taxes, most of which go to local governments to support public education, emergency service, public libraries, senior centers, parks, etc. It was a power grab that would have taken away control from local voters and governments and given it to politicians in Charleston to give tax breaks to their supporters. Needless to say, business interest groups and dark money supported the amendments.

Amendment 2 was defeated by a nearly 2 to 1 margin.

Amendment 4 was equally bad because it would have taken control of public school curriculums away from boards of educations and given it to the same politicians, opening the way to censorship, book banning, stifling of education, and bogus culture wars. 

Amendment 4 was shot down by a margin of approximately 60 to 40.

Credit for this was due to mobilization from many quarters, including boards of education, county commissions, unions, parents, educators and school support workers, firefighters, grassroots advocacy groups and many others. Lots of people I know (myself included) hit the road and threw hearts and souls into stopping 2 and 4.

For once anyway  people power won over money power.

Please vote no on WV 2 and 4 Nov. 8 to protect education

 Public education was a major concern of West Virginia’s founders. Article 12 Section 1 of the state constitution states that “The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.”

Article 12 Section 6 of the state constitution that specifies that “the school board of any district shall be elected by the voters of the respective district without reference to political party affiliation.”

Two constitutional amendments on the ballot in November could threaten the intent of those provisions.

Amendment 2 would essentially give the legislature to power to eliminate business taxes on equipment and property that now provide over a quarter of funding for counties, cities, and schools. As a sweetener, it would also give them power to eliminate taxes on personal vehicles, although the lion’s share of more than 70 percent would go to businesses, many of which are out of state corporations.

If voters approve this amendment, the legislature could cut property taxes by over $500 million dollars. As things now stand, 66 percent of this revenue funds county school districts. Another 33.5 percent goes to county and municipal governments to provide funding for things like emergency medical services, fire protection, public safety, public libraries and senior citizen centers and other services.

This would end a long tradition of constitutional protections for local services, take authority for property taxes away from local voters and communities, and could impact bonds and levies supported by supermajorities of 60 percent or more of local voters. Currently 44 of West Virginia’s 55 counties fund services through voter-approved levies.

Supporters of Amendment 2 say that local governments will be “made whole” by state funding, but there’s no guarantee of that—and doing so would simply require cuts to state funding for other programs. The budget surpluses the state now enjoys are mostly the result of one-time federal COVID relief funding. Making long term plans based on temporary gains is a bit like counting on lottery winnings in making a family’s budget.

The likely long-term results will be either cuts in public services or regressive tax increases that fall on working class families…or a combination thereof.

As Governor Jim Justice put it, “We’re taking away an income stream and betting on good times forever and putting at risk our schools, our EMS, our firemen, our police and whatever it may be. We have to step back and think about what we are doing.”

And while eliminating those taxes might do significant damage to funding local services, it’s not likely to result in more jobs for West Virginians. State and local taxes make up less than two percent of the cost of doing business, so we’re talking about a fraction of a fraction. Some evidence even suggests that cuts in equipment taxes can result in automation and loss of manufacturing jobs.

Amendment 4 would threaten the constitutional intent of school governance without regard to party affiliation by giving partisan politicians control over classrooms and taking authority away from educators, school boards, parents, and voters. This could turn schools into political battlegrounds, stifle learning, create a climate of intimidation, impose a narrow range of ideological and religious perspectives, and lead to censorship and book banning.

What both proposed amendments have in common is the centralization of power by a partisan legislature at the expense of local voters, governments, and school boards.

 For those reasons, we are compelled to express our opposition to Amendments 2 and 4.

(Sorry if this sounds familiar but it's kinda important.)

To protect education, just say no

 Public education was a major concern of West Virginia’s founders. Article 12 Section 1 of the state constitution states that “The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.”

Good luck with that these days.

The public education system that taught most people reading this newspaper is now under attack as never before. And the source of that attack is some of the leadership of the West Virginia legislature. 

In recent years, a majority of legislators pushed through a bill allowing public money to be diverted to profit-making charter schools, which have little or no public accountability, as well as a program that essentially pays parents to take kids and funding out of the public schools that the vast majority of West Virginians rely on.

Now some want to rewrite the state constitution with two amendments that would centralize in their hands control over school funding and curriculum that now resides with county governments, local voters, and school boards. 

To paraphrase the late great Mister Rogers, can you say power grab?

Amendment 2 would essentially give the legislature to power to eliminate business taxes on equipment and property that now provide over a quarter of funding for counties, cities, and schools. As a sweetener, it would also give them power to eliminate taxes on personal vehicles, although the lion’s share of more than 70 percent would go to businesses, many of which are out of state corporations.

If voters approve this amendment, the legislature could cut property taxes by over $500 million dollars. As things now stand, 66 percent of this revenue funds county school districts. Another 33.5 percent goes to county and municipal governments to provide funding for things like emergency medical services, fire protection, public safety, public libraries and senior citizen centers and other services.

This would end a long tradition of constitutional protections for local services, take authority for property taxes away from local voters and communities, and could impact bonds and levies supported by supermajorities of 60 percent or more of local voters. Currently 44 of West Virginia’s 55 counties fund services through voter-approved levies.

Supporters of Amendment 2 say that local governments will be “made whole” by state funding, but there’s no guarantee of that—and doing so would simply require cuts to state funding for other programs. The budget surpluses the state now enjoys are mostly the result of one-time federal COVID relief funding. Making long term plans based on temporary gains is a bit like counting on lottery winnings in making a family’s budget.

The likely long-term results will be either cuts in public services or regressive tax increases that fall on working class families…or a combination thereof.

As Governor Jim Justice put it, with the apparent approval of Babydog, “We’re taking away an income stream and betting on good times forever and putting at risk our schools, our EMS, our firemen, our police and whatever it may be. We have to step back and think about what we are doing.”

And while eliminating those taxes might give a break to corporations and the politicians they financially support, it’s not likely to result in more jobs for West Virginians. State and local taxes make up less than two percent of the cost of doing business, so we’re talking about a fraction of a fraction. Some evidence even suggests that cuts in equipment taxes can result in automation and loss of manufacturing jobs.

Then there’s Amendment 4. If passed by voters, this would essentially nullify the intent of Article 12 Section 6 of the state constitution that specifies that “the school board of any district shall be elected by the voters of the respective district without reference to political party affiliation” by giving partisan politicians control over classrooms and taking authority away from educators, school boards, parents, and voters.

Do we really want politicians to be able to control and censor the books kids read, the lessons they learn, and even the songs they sing? 

Once you go down that road, there’s no telling how things will end up, but it’s never a good place. It’s a slippery slope from book banning to book burning.

Here’s hoping West Virginia voters of all stripes show up in November to vote “no” on 2 and 4 and protect the education system we need for a decent future as well as local control of the investments we rely on for everything from emergency services to parks and recreation.

(This appeared as a column in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

Big stakes for schools riding on November ballot

 Those of us of a certain age who remember a certain debacle in the Middle East, might also remember when then secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld said in a justification for the war on Iraq:

“As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

I was reminded of this famous “known unknowns” soundbite recently after hearing the concerns raised by the Raleigh County commission regarding Amendment 2, the property tax amendment that the state legislature voted to put on the ballot in the upcoming November election.

A county commissioner said that “the unknowns are what scares everybody,” and because of this uncertainty, Raleigh County is among fifteen county commissions to date that publicly oppose Amendment 2. 

The commissioner is spot on, there are many scary unknowns as to how counties could make up for the potential loss of $515 million in revenue if Amendment 2 passes muster with West Virginia voters.  

There are also some known knowns, the first of which is who is behind this effort to strip local county governments of the power to set business and manufacturing property tax rates, and give that authority over to the state legislature.  Just follow the money.  

Of the estimated $515 million in revenue generated by these taxes for the counties, over seventy per cent is paid for by large businesses, the majority of which are wealthy, out-of-state corporations who want nothing more than another tax break.  

To be sure, these moneyed interests have been lobbying our legislature for years to eliminate this tax.  Putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot is their latest attempt.  

Another known known is who stands to lose if Amendment 2 were to pass, and the list is long. Nearly all of these business property taxes fund local services including public schools, libraries, EMTs, firefighters, among many other public goods and services.  Amendment 2 would permanently eliminate local control over one of the biggest funding sources for these critical public services.   

And lest we forget that it’s these public services that businesses one way or another rely on, to educate future employees, keep their employees and their families safe in emergencies, and create a thriving community where businesses would want to locate. 

In the “known unknown” category is what will future legislators do.  A common defense of Amendment 2 is that it doesn’t mean the legislature will cut these business and manufacturing taxes, it simply means they can.  

But the truth is that current politicians cannot say that future legislatures will ensure counties have adequate revenue.  Because of the inherent unpredictability of power at the state legislature, assurances made for revenue replacement can be nothing more than empty promises. 

Speaking of promises, after Labor Day West Virginians will be inundated with fancy ads on TV, in print, and on the radio tying a vote for Amendment 2 to a break on their car tax.  Gee I wonder who will be paying for all that expensive advertising.    

Fortunately a known known is that West Virginians have a keen eye for a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  The sheep will be the “car tax promise” and the wolf is a $515 million power grab away from local governments.  As the saying goes, remember in November! 

(This op-ed was published in the Charleston Gazette Mail by my co-worker Lida Shepherd.)