Sep 18, 2011 By State Rep. Tim Mahoney 3 min read

The problem with Fayette County school districts, and why I sought to let voters decide on their administrative consolidation in an attempt to save money, is best illustrated by outgoing Laurel Highlands School Board member Bill Elias.

Within days of the local court ruling that deprived voters of a referendum to weigh in on my initiative Nov. 8, Elias, a vociferous critic of such consolidation, was in the majority of a 5-4 vote to undertake a $39 million high school renovation plan at Laurel Highlands.

This move will require the school board to raise taxes by 1.21 mills, according to Laurel Highlands Superintendent Jesse Wallace. That translates into a 8.5-percent tax hike next year, and that doesn’t even take into consideration increased wage and benefit costs, or an uncertain state subsidy.

Plainly put, board members like Elias ignore fiscal reality and spend local tax money like drunken sailors, knowing full well that spending decisions made today are going to sock it to property owners in a big way tomorrow. He is a poster child for maintaining the school district status quo.

I will predict, here and now, that Laurel Highlands property owners will see a double-digit tax hike next year because of the free-spending ways of board members like Elias. And I will predict that Laurel Highlands won’t be the only Fayette County school district shamefully forcing many of its residents to dig deeper into pocketbooks that have nothing to spare.

That is why I am reaffirming my commitment to the cause of administrative consolidation. The results of an independent study on this issue will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. If they show that substantial cost savings can be achieved, the supporters of this idea and I will mount a grassroots campaign aimed at convincing the public — and school boards — that they should embrace this as an alternative to the only other option anyone else has put forth: more tax hikes.

As an elected official, I realized going into this that there would be fierce opposition from some quarters in taking on one of the county’s sacred cows, the public education system, because those forces benefit from the current system. Their vested self-interest and desire to maintain power trump potential cost savings, lackluster student test scores, declining enrollments and state subsidies, and even the cries for mercy from overtaxed property owners who simply can’t give any more.

I, however, hear those cries, loud and clear. And I intend to press onward, trying to do something about it, so that we can provide a better, yet more streamlined and cost-effective, public education for the children of Fayette County.

If any of my critics has a better plan, starting with retired teacher Elias, I challenge them to put it forth immediately, so school districts have another potential option to avoiding big tax hikes in 2012-13.

State Rep. Timothy S. Mahoney, D-South Union, represents the 51st Legislative District in Fayette County.