Investing in the future

We’ve all heard so much about the upcoming school levy that I think we may be lost in the weeds. I want to get us back to basics.

Operating levies are how school districts are funded in the state of Ohio. They are not a sign of a district overspending or needing “more money” for special projects; they are simply the way that schools keep up with basic inflationary increases over time.  

Issue 69 is not about whether our school district is doing a “good” or “bad” job, or whether leadership makes decisions you agree with or not. It’s about one thing and one thing only: whether you believe that children deserve access to a high-quality education. Period. That’s it, that’s all.

Everyone reading this letter had someone who invested in their education. Maybe it was taxpayers, or a more-enlightened state government, or parents, or grandparents, or benefactors. But somebody did that for each of us. And now we are asked to do it for someone else. 

I will always do it. Regardless of whether I have kids in the district (I do), regardless of the quality of education they’re receiving (excellent), I will always invest in this greatest of common goods: public education. There is no single investment I can make that will have a greater return to me and to society as a whole than public education.

Please join me in voting yes for Issue 69.

Krissy Dietrich Gallagher

Krissy Dietrich Gallagher is a longtime resident of Cleveland Heights, a graduate of the Heights schools and a former Coventry School teacher. She is a freelance journalist under contract with the CH-UH City School District.

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Volume 13, Issue 11, Posted 3:27 PM, 10.23.2020