Support KTEC, kids; vote 'yes' on school levies

Why are Idaho students at the bottom? We live in the greatest country in the world, and North Idaho is the best place to live in the USA!

Disclaimer: I’m a conservative and Republican and I voted for Donald Trump!

Idaho cannot change Washington, D.C., politics, but we can affect how we support and fund our local education system. Supporting our schools by way of teachers, student transportation, and extracurricular activities ensures our kids are getting the BEST learning experience possible.

It’s imperative that our school districts keep up with the technological revolution by equipping students with the skills necessary to compete in a global job market. For the Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, and Lakeland school districts, levy funds are not supplemental; they are fundamental.

I have been fortunate to hear directly from many of our educational leaders and have learned much in recent years about the challenges of our local school funding. Because of our proximity to Washington and desire to attract and retain the most qualified teachers, our three school districts pay teachers and support staff just over the state salary minimum. Even with these efforts, the districts see approximately 10% turnover in staff each year.

Why? Because Spokane pays their top teachers far more than we do and they recruit our teachers. These competitive wages are not the only challenges.

Our districts are mandated to provide special education services despite woefully inadequate funding from the federal government and a K-5 curriculum adoption costs approximately a half million dollars; state funding covers a mere 5%.

Extracurricular programming, school nurses, counselors, and school resource officers are all costs NOT paid by state funding and must be supported through local levy dollars.

The levies are fundamental in the development of our kids. We all know what is happening with our trained police officers going to Washington. Let’s stop our great teachers from being forced to leave as well.

I encourage every citizen to review the CDA Press editorial “Voters have powerful say in school funding” from Sunday, Jan. 31. It sheds light on why our schools are forced to request additional levy funding from taxpayers. Public schools are here for the good of every child. They are not partisan; they educate every child who walks through the front door. They provide the foundation of our democracy, which begins with an educated and responsible citizenry.

In the USA, Idaho’s cost for an FTE (full time equivalent) student is the second lowest funded at $7,800 per student a year. The lowest funded state is Utah at $7,600 a year. Washington state spends $13,000 a year per student and Montana $11,700 per student. Washington, D.C., spends a whopping $22,800 per student! We can offer our students a great education by finding compromise in the middle but being at the bottom should NOT be acceptable.

As a community all working together, I believe we can lead our nation in how to make our education system one of the best in the USA. Why do I say this? Because we did it 11 years ago! The business owners, the parents/taxpayers, working with our education system created a model that is envied by the world.

In my opinion, one of the greatest things to ever happen in North Idaho was KTEC (Kootenai Technical Education Campus). I have been blessed to work with our business community and to share our vision of an alternative form of education.

Our business community bought the land, and then together we passed the levy at an approval rate of 66%, in all three districts on the same day. They called it a “Triple Success.” All three school districts and their superintendents will tell you: It was a miracle.

Today we have over 500 students a day attending KTEC and they are being prepared for well-paying jobs in the fields of welding, health, auto & diesel technology, construction, HVAC, hospitality, computer repair, fabrication, and automated manufacturing. Our graduation rate over the last five years is 100%. The average student has 3.42 job offers!

Over the last 20 years, I have worked very closely with Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane and now with Dena Naccarato. I can assure you they care about your tax dollars, your money, your children, and the future of our kids. Even though they are educators, they are conservative with our money. I’ve also worked closely with Lakeland Superintendent Becky Meyer on a couple of projects as well and I can assure you, she is the real deal. I would hire either one of these if they were available.

I asked our three superintendents what they would do if the levy failed and they needed to balance their budget. Answers:

• Cut teachers & staff

• Cut sports programs

• Cut other programs (maybe KTEC)

• KTEC estimates that 50 -100 students would drop out of school if their programs were not available.

Voting YES to the levies means voting YES to our kids. If you are not happy with the way your child is being treated or the policies and curriculum that the school has in place, get involved! Run for the school board and help say “NO” to the crazy agenda coming from Washington, D.C. Let’s keep North Idaho the BEST place to live but staying true to our values and our students.

If you want to hurt our children, take away their cellphones, but don’t take away their quality education.

PS: I’m voting YES for the future of our country and our children!

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Ron Nilson is the founder, CEO and chairman of the board of Ground Force Worldwide in Post Falls. He's also a former member of the North Idaho College Board of Trustees.