MY TURN: Paying it forward
When I joined the Post Falls School Board, I didn’t fully understand how often we must go out into our community and beg for money. At times, it feels like that is all we do, and I know many voters feel the same way. Yet, the Post Falls School District remains the most fiscally conservative district in the region. We spend less per pupil than any other neighboring district and still turn out high achievement numbers. I could use this column to explain all the things that are funded by our replacement fundamental levy, but instead I want to share some thoughts about the role public education plays in making America an exceptional nation.
School districts are unique among taxing districts. The students we serve are too young to vote or pay property taxes. They don’t set achievement standards, policies, or curriculum. The people who pay taxes into the school district are not who we serve — we serve the next generation. I like to think of it as “paying it forward.” Each generation funds the education for the next, just as the previous generation funded ours.
Between 80% and 90% of Americans were educated in public schools, and it was the taxpayers before us who made that possible. My mother worked in a paper mill, and my father worked as a logger. Their taxes helped pay for my education. Their parents paid for theirs. This pattern stretches back well before the founding of our nation. My 11th great-grandfather, Phineas, was a public-school administrator in the 1760s and through his taxes, education was passed down to his son, Thomas — and every generation that followed. Today, my children are educated in the Post Falls School District thanks to the many generations before them that paid the way; and thanks to everyone who pays taxes today.
I know that many in our district have children who are grown and no longer in school and some might wonder why they should continue paying taxes for education. I don’t think of it like that. I pay taxes into our school system because it’s what we pass on to the next generation so that when I am gone, America continues to thrive. Genealogists often note that after about three generations, we are all forgotten. Memories fade and our names will no longer be spoken. But our legacy continues through the generations that come after us and what we leave to them. My future great-great-grandchildren won’t know who I am, but the education that I help fund today will still be shaping their world.
The Founding Fathers had the foresight to make public education a major component in creating our nation. They knew we had to have an educated population to maintain our republic, and they were right. Americans invented the airplane, the computer, the practical lightbulb, the cell phone, laser technology, email, and GPS. We went to the moon and we defeated the Axis powers. It took an educated population to do all these things.
Another unique feature of American public education as established by our forefathers is that it’s secular. Some voters tell me they feel that God is absent from our classrooms. On the surface, it may seem that way, but our founders were wise. Thomas Jefferson believed that public schools should be separate from religion, yet provide the skills necessary one needs to worship God. He thought that schools should teach reading, writing, and reasoning, enabling citizens to read scripture and make moral decisions. I know children in our schools are learning the vital skills needed to read and comprehend very deep and meaningful lessons taught in churches.
I don’t enjoy paying taxes, but I will never complain about funding our public schools. America is the beacon of hope to the world, and we are the envy of the world because we invest in our people. I will be voting to support the Post Falls School District levy this November, and I humbly ask you to join me.
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Neil Uhrig is chairman of the Post Falls School Board.