Support for school levy is part of social-justice conversation

To the Editor:

I am a recently retired woman with lots of time on my hands. I spend a certain amount of it walking around our city. We have lovely areas in which to live in Cleveland Heights—I am fortunate to live in one of them—and I take great enjoyment in these walks. Cleveland Heights has some beautiful old homes—homes that would cost far more in other cities. The low property values compared to other suburbs balance out our somewhat higher tax rate.

What saddens me is to see the anti-school-levy signs at some of these lovely properties. Their message of “We love living in the Heights – keep the Heights affordable” rings selfish to me. Who are they referring to? Themselves? They (like me) can afford to support our public schools. This levy represents a very modest increase in our taxes.

For those families who actually send their children to the public schools, some may not so easily be able to afford an increase, but these are their kids—these are their schools. They want investment in their children, and they need us to invest in their children. “Affordable” takes on a longer-term meaning: Can we afford not to fund our public schools and support the children who attend them? What are the long-term consequences and costs here?  

There are other signs on Cleveland Heights’ lawns, too—and they are heartening to see! These signs reflect recognition of the need and desire to work to change the longstanding social problems of injustice and inequality that recent incidents have brought to the forefront of our collective conversations.

We, as a community, need to recognize that supporting this levy—funding our public schools and supporting the children who attend them—is a definite part of this conversation on working to solve social injustice and erase inequality.