No on Prop. 100

We have all seen the commercials supporting a yes vote on Prop. 100. The supporters of the proposition want us to believe that if we do not vote yes then they will have to close down schools and put children at risk. Of course, most people know this is not true but that is not what these commercials are about. These are about tugging at our heartstrings and hoping we use emotions to vote instead of common sense.

Someone once said that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” I think they missed the point when it comes to Prop 100. By voting yes you are essentially giving the government a “free” $1 billion per year without asking for any cost saving reforms of our schools. The legislature has done some cutting of the budget over the last few years, which has hopefully required agencies to become more efficient. However, they have not asked anything of the schools. A recent report by the Goldwater Institute highlighted that in Arizona school districts there is one administrator for every teacher. If this took place in a private company, each manager would supervise only one employee. The company would not survive very long with that system. (Government Motors notwithstanding)

Unfortunately, Arizona law does not allow for two distinct and separate questions to be on one proposition. If this was allowed and the proposition read “by voting yes Arizona will increase the sales tax rate by 1 cent and consolidate the 256 school districts in the state to 10”, I would have been a yes vote. In fact, given the dire situation with the budget, I would have voted yes to a temporary two-cent sales tax increase if it included consolidation of the school districts. At the very least the Arizona legislature should have referred another proposition requiring a consolidation of the school districts or some other reform that would bring about a more efficient and less costly government. This would allow voters to bring accountability into the system by voting yes on both.

We have all seen the out of control spending by the politicians in Washington. There is no regard to the consequences of their actions and no accountability. Most assume when the bottom falls out the politician will long have since retired on a fat government pension. We can’t let this mentality invade Arizona. We need accountability from our elected and non-elected government officials. Voting no on Prop. 100 will send a signal that there is no “free lunch” in Arizona.