Why to Give Props to Proposition E
District 7 great, the community as a whole
District 7 is at risk and November voters have a chance to save it
Story by: Jade Weber
T he Edwardsville School District has a long
history of greatness: From academics to
athletics to the fine and performing arts, its
programs have enjoyed a reputation as some
of the best, if not the best, in the Metro East.
But this reputation is at risk.
Since 2008, the school district has lost almost
$50 million in state funding, according to
voteyesprope.com. To fill the hole, the District
has cut around $14 million in spending, but
by the end of the 2016-2017 school year, the
Education Fund will still be $6.7 million in
debt. District 7 has relied on a working cash
fund for many years, but the fund is dry.
District 7 is giving Edwardsville voters a
choice: a yes vote will ensure the district’s
financial wellbeing and the maintenance of
its excellence; a no vote will likely lead to the
District’s financial failure.
A group of EHS students and I push for
voting students and citizens to vote yes to
Proposition E - for Continued Excellence in
Education.
Even if students who can vote don’t want to
vote for president this year, going to the polls
to vote for Proposition E is essential to District
7’s, and even our communities’, future.
The District 7 School Board recently approved
an Education Fund referendum for the 2016
ballot.
If passed, the referendum, Proposition E,
will raise the Edwardsville Community Unit
School District 7 tax rate by $0.55 per $100
of the taxable value of a home in the district.
This would mean an increase of around $300
per year for an average Edwardsville home
valued at $177,000.
“The funding will ensure the ongoing financial
stability and academic excellence of the
Edwardsville School District,” a voteyesprope.
com fact sheet said.
The Illinois State Board of Education added
the Edwardsville School District to the State’s
Financial Watch List in 2009 and began
monitoring it in 2015 because of a high debt
and low amounts of “cash-on-hand” at the end
of the year.
outstanding school district, they should be
Being on the State’s Financial Watch List
could result in many repercussions beyond
what those the district has already faced.
Since 2008, District 7 has eliminated 101
staff positions, frozen salaries and suspended
its curriculum review; in some subjects, the
curriculum has not been updated since 1998.
“In the years that I have been part of the
school district, the school’s budget has taken
many hits, like when field trips became
much more limited or when the bus system
regressed,” senior Ian Klein said.
As a result of being on the watch list for four
years and many years of academic failure,
the Illinois State Board of Education took
complete control of East St. Louis’s school
district.
The takeover prevented the school
district board members and officials from
“approv(ing) any contract, or make personnel,
financial or curriculum decisions without first
getting written approval from the state (for
three years),” according to the St. Louis Post
Dispatch. This means that the district had no
say in what cuts to programs the state made.
If Proposition E fails, the Edwardsville school
district will be unable to pay off the debt
and will be unable to balance the budget by
the 2019 date required by the state, which
would label the district with “Certification of
Financial Difficulty” and give permission to
the State Board of Education to take control
and make cuts if it chooses.
“ ... It’s important to always
be improving, and (Prop E)
not passing might slow down
progress in the area.
” Edwardsville Loan Officer John McDole said.
Not voting in favor of Proposition E would
keep the tax rate from increasing, but
would put the district at risk and prohibit it
from updating the old textbooks, updating
curriculum, restoring and upgrading
technology, funding current programs and
opportunities, and maintaining existing
athletic, academic and performing arts
programs.
According to the District 7’s Focus on
Finance, among the proposed ideas to
alleviate the effects of the budget situation
Graph created using information from IllinoisReportCard.com
for the 2016-2017 year were increasing
school fees, reducing in bus costs, reducing
curriculum budgets and eliminating 25
positions, including 10 athletic positions.
Klein, an active member in EHS’s Science
Club and Science Olympiad, said he has felt
the effects of the district’s financial troubles.
“STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math) programs have been becoming
more prevalent throughout many high
schools, but I have not exactly felt that effect
here,” he said. “I feel as though being on the
Watch List makes the school district afraid to
adjust.”
Without funding to maintain what makes a safe and prosperous community with an
will suffer. willing to pay the extra taxes, whether they
have family in the district or not. The tax
“If Prop E did not pass, then the school
district would obviously have to cut back
increase will be for Edwardsville as a whole
and not limited to only the schools.
significantly and would result in a lower
quality of education for the students,” Bank of “Of course, I don’t want to pay higher taxes,
“(This) could definitely reduce the demand for
but I will vote yes.” Mrs. Noll said. “Doing so
will help preserve the reasons people choose
families to move to the school district. to live in our community – and the school
district is the main reason.”
“With that (low) demand would come lower
property values. I think the community would Graph created using information from IllinoisReportCard.com
still be strong, but it’s important to always be
improving, and (Prop E) not passing might
slow down progress in the area.”
There are complaints about how high the taxes
in Edwardsville currently are, but in reality the
tax rate is the lowest in the area; it’s the home
values that are higher, which causes people to
assume that Edwardsville tax rates are higher.
If people don’t want to pay the tax increase for
the school district, then home values are likely
to decrease as well, lessening the value of the
Edwardsville community as a whole.
Kristin Noll, Columbus Elementary teacher
and mother of two children in the district,
said many students and citizens have many
misunderstandings about Proposition E.
“Parents have a misconception that sports are
supported by district funds. Booster clubs pay
for sports,” she said. “(Voting yes) is essential
for the survival of our school district’s
excellence.”
If Proposition E passes, the district will be able
to balance the budget by the State’s 2019 date
and update the old textbooks and curriculum,
replace technology, fund and maintain the
programs that make Edwardsville great.
“I think that Proposition E provides a much
needed chance to supply students with a better
opportunity for learning,” Klein said.
As seniors, my fellow students don’t want to
watch the district that most of us grew up in
slowly decline while we are in college. We urge
our fellow voters to vote yes and urge students
to promote voting yes to keeping Edwardsville
as we all know and love.
We believe that if students and families in the
Edwardsville area want to continue to live in