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School-levy opposition is news
(by Dave Lange - November 04, 2009)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
School-levy opposition is news
Some hackles were raised by our decision two weeks ago to run as the lead story in our Chagrin Valley and Geauga County papers the opposition by one West Geauga School Board member to renewal of the district's "emergency" operating levy on Tuesday's ballot.
I understand such sensitivities, because school levies are so difficult to get passed, regardless of how badly they are needed and how strong the evidence is of efforts to rein in costs.
It's not earth-shattering news when local boards of education -- the people who are elected by their fellow citizens to represent the best interests of their children and their pocketbooks -- unanimously support school levies, especially renewals. That's what they generally do. But when one of those board members speaks out against a school levy and even goes so far as to pay for advertisements urging voters to oppose it, as West G's Michael Kilroy did, that's newsworthy.
Our lead headline, "West Geauga board member criticizes timing of levy," and the story's first two paragraphs, which explained the basis for that headline, raised questions among school supporters about the fairness of our approach.
The assumption behind that seems to be that readers jump to hasty conclusions and base their votes on one elected representative's criticism. Of course, some of the voters who supported Mr. Kilroy's election two years ago were going to agree with his position on this school levy, regardless of any arguments in favor of it. And a good number of voters who are predisposed to oppose school levies will cherry pick information to rationalize their position.
If the headline had read, "Four of five West Geauga board members do not criticize timing of levy," I doubt whether any of those levy opponents would have changed their minds. Furthermore, that approach would not have been "news," because it had been well established that the majority of the school board was convinced that placing the levy on the ballot at this time was justified and necessary.
For the record, I have not been the main headline writer for our newspapers for quite some time. I do not always fully agree with the headlines that are written. But having done that job for many years, I know how difficult it is. I did not write the headline for the West Geauga levy story, but I had no reservations about its accuracy and fairness.
Speaking of fairness, our news editor pointed out that the story ran for 18 paragraphs, and 10 of those paragraphs explained the issue from the school-board majority and school administration's point of view. Every one of Mr. Kilroy's objections was subjected to alternative interpretations.
The facts are that the West Geauga district has trimmed expenses and salaries, its cost per pupil is lower than those of most comparable school systems, and passage of the levy would not increase taxes.
Another fact is that Mr. Kilroy was chosen by the voters of Chester and Russell townships to represent them on their school board in a highly competitive election two years ago. Regardless of whether the majority agrees, he does represent a voice in the community.
Regardless of which candidates and which tax issues our newspapers may support on our opinion pages, we have a responsibility to report on the actions and positions of those who run for election -- and certainly those who win elections to local offices.
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