Paying for Better Schools

The Durham School of the Arts is well known for its outstanding student performances, but the school still lacks functional performance or rehearsal space. There are good things happening at E.K. Powe Elementary School, but the fourth grade bathroom in the 1930s building is so decrepit that parents report children will wait all day long to avoid using it.

These are the kind of issues Duke employees cite when they talk about why they're supporting the new Durham Public School bond package.

"This is the sort of thing that taxes were meant for, this kind of investment in the future of our community," said Robin Kirk, director of the Human Rights Center at Duke and the mother of both a Powe alumnus and Powe student.

When Durham voters go to the polls Nov. 6, they will decide whether to approve the request from the Durham Public Schools for $194.2 million to build three new schools and renovate several existing school buildings.

The schools bond is one of three requests for funding that county residents will vote on. Durham Technical Community College is asking for $8.7 million, and the Museum of Life & Science wants $4.2 million. A fourth bond referendum for city residents only would authorize $20 million to repair city streets. A "yes" vote on any or all of the funding requests authorizes taxes to be levied to cover the principal and interest of the bonds.

The city and county governments can't advocate for people to vote yes on the referendum. Instead, Steve Toler, a community relationships consultant, co-chairs a bond referendum campaign committee that champions approving the bonds.

"We want to send a signal to residents of Durham County and our neighbors and companies considering relocating to Durham that we are a very healthy county, and we understand our responsibilities to leave the county better than we found it," Toler said. "We want to make sure we do a good job of planning."

The projected tax increase if the three county bonds passed would be 4.6 cents per $100 of property valuation, said Ellen Reckhow, chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners.

For a $150,000 house, that is an additional $69 a year," Rechkow said. "Historically, we haven't had to raise taxes more than what we projected." For bonds approved in 2001 and 2003, the increase has been less than projected, she said.

If taxes were to increase to pay for the bonds -- and that's not a foregone conclusion -- Robin Kirk said she thinks it would be worth it.

Rehabilitating E.K. Powe would benefit more than the elementary students, she said. The school is used after hours for school meetings, after-school programs, parent education workshops and English-as-a-second-language classes for adults, and as a precinct voting station. Powe also runs a community food bank for families in crisis and a place for children who aren't guaranteed dinner at home to get something to eat before they leave school.

"Our public schools are where we create what it means to be an American," Kirk said. "I think that's worth defending."

Investing in the repair and upkeep of existing facilities has been shown to be cost-effective, said Ron Grunwald, a biology lecturer at Duke whose daughter is a "theater kid" at Durham School of the Arts. Beyond providing performance and rehearsal space for the arts students, the bond will repair the cracked plaster and peeling paint and air condition classrooms to keep students focused when the 90-degree days begin in April and spill into October.

"Poor facilities encourage parents who might have other choices to send their children elsewhere," Grunwald said. "Taxes are investments we make, so it will be worth it even if taxes go up. Public education is essential. Everything from crime to jobs to quality of life in a community is tied to education. -- If we don't make that investment, we get what we ask for."

Allison Rice, a senior lecturing fellow who teaches at the Duke AIDS legal project, is the mother of a Powe graduate and a current Powe student. She said the bond is a smart way to pay for major improvements that can't be paid for out of the school system's operating budget.

"It's not like you can address growth solely by tightening your belt," Rice said. The improvements are no more than the basics required to do the important job that the community has entrusted the school system to do, she said.

"Having schools that are overcrowded or have real facilities problems is certainly not going to help the education of the kids," she said. "Tell people to come into the bathrooms at E.K. Powe, and there will be no need for further questions [about the need for the bond package]."