Kidless asks – why vote for Seattle school levies?:
“Why should I vote for the Seattle schools levies? I didn’t feel the need to populate the earth with children. I don’t care about your kids or your schools or anybody else’s kids for that matter.”
Since I call myself “Educating Mom,” I’m bound to get emails like that. When I came up with the name for this blog, I was hoping the verb would work in my favor – as in, most of the time YOU would be educating me. In this case, I do have an answer for “Kidless in Seattle” as the e-mail address indicated.
Dear Kidless,
Why are you reading an education blog if you don’t care about kids or schools?
Scratch that. Too snarky. Try again.
Dear Kidless,
Even though you don’t have children, I encourage you to vote in favor of Props 1 and 2 tomorrow. They are vital funding measures for Seattle public schools. They’re important for you too.
A 2006 National Association of Realtors survey found that one-third of home buyers cited the “quality of the neighborhood school” as a main factor in their decision. If you own a home, schools have an effect on your property’s resale value. I haven’t seen data on how much a good school district adds to the price of a home, but a few real estate friends tell me it can be significant.
We need a well-educated generation of young people to help Seattle, the region and the world deal with many challenges. Think of the alternative – a poorly educated society with an increase in poverty and crime. Bad.
Plus, the Seattle props are not new taxes.
And, because I said so. š
Thanks for reading, thanks for writing.
EM
P.S. Check back for comments from readers who might have more reasons for you to consider. Good day.
My response:
I have no idea how to reply to something like that. State-funded public education is in the state constitution, so perhaps “kidless” needs to find a state more in tune with his “me first” beliefs.
I confess, I have never met anyone whose views could be construed as anti-education, based on costs. What next, police and fire protection by auction? If you can’t outbid your neighbor, your house burns while his is saved?
You could answer that question with another: what did they get from their education? Was citizenship or civics covered at all?
What if one of these state-educated kids is his caregiver when he gets old? Oh, of course, people like that don’t need anyone, they’re the rugged individualists.
Feh. It’s a shame their parents chose “to populate the earth with children.” I’m sure they would be impressed with the public spiritedness their children exhibit.