This is an interesting election for us in Madison. We’ve got the presidential ticket – and then no active contests until you get down to the local races. [Well, Tammy is running again, but it's a given at this point that she'll get another term to do nothing.]
In every other elected office race on my ballot, the incumbent is running unopposed.
And then, at the very bottom of the ballot sheet, there is the school referendum. I shan’t repeat my previous rants, such as this, or this. But I will say that it irks me to NO END that we have to propose and campaign for a ballot referendum to allow the MMSD to raise property taxes in order to pay for baseline education. Never mind a high quality school system that exposes kids to all sorts of creative ideas and explorations, allows for all children to engage in activities and projects which they may never otherwise have access to.
I’ve been peripherally involved with a couple of the groups working to reform the insane school funding laws in Wisconsin and to pass school funding referenda here in Madison. Last weekend, I served as a hub location for a lit drop in the area. I was putting the Vote Yes sign in my front yard so volunteers would know where to pick up their literature packets when Pat walked out of her house.
“Now what’s this I’m supposed to vote for?” she asked. (I already had an Obama sign, put in the ground on the very first day it was legal to do so.)
“Well, raising your taxes, really,” I replied. She shrugged, we both laughed and then sighed.
