It's time to stop funding failure in schools

There is nothing more illustrative of the taxpaying citizens lack of a voice in the education of our children or the loss of control of our public schools than the current controversy over the mothballing of the Lake Pend Oreille High School.

Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer's dictatorial control over district policy, the LPOSD Board rubber-stamping her authority over that of the residents they were elected to represent, and the fate of students continued failing to meet state and national education competency standards has reached a boiling point where change is necessary and long overdue. Here are the facts:

1. More than 80% of the annual LPOSD school budget walks off campus in the form of administrative, certificated and noncertificated staff salary compensation, healthcare, vacation and sick pay and retirement benefits paid for by the public taxation and property owners levy taxation. In short, a job factory for educators no matter what mediocre student education is provided.

2. LPOSD is one of the most discriminatory, sexist and retaliatory school districts in the State of Idaho. Between 50-70 female students have been denied an equal education opportunity under Title IX law every year for decades and the good-ol'-boy system is entrenched in the school administration. Teachers who have spoken up were black-balled and forced out of their jobs with false claims like misappropriation of funds.

3. LPOSD has a documented history of filing false statements to federal education agencies in violation of federal law to cover- up continuing discrimination and unfair treatment of student children. Discrimination is taught in LPOSD and perpetuated.

4. Idaho only requires 152 days of school a year while most other states have 180 days. And the LPOSD late start and early releases further erode the necessary class time students need to learn. The interest of the teacher's union members trumps student educational needs by collective agreement to pay them not to teach and leave campus on early release days. Meanwhile, LPOSD students are dumped onto Sandpoint streets in the afternoon, unsupervised, disrupting local businesses and flooding the public library with unruly, noisy kids waiting for their parents to get off work and take them home.

5. Every year, approximately half ~50% of all the LPOSD collective student body fails to meet IDE state competency standard in mathematics and it is shocking that Supt. Meyer and her administrators are not the least bit alarmed or taking substantive corrective action. Advocating STEM education is an empty pursuit for students failing math and career potential in science, technology or engineering is therefore hopeless. And colleges are requiring remedial courses for these high school students who supposedly passed state mathematics testing but can't pass college math courses.

It's time to stop funding failure and vote NO LEVY in the next election. Maybe then LPOSD board and administration will listen to the people that elected them and pay their six figure salaries.

MARK ROSSMILLER

Sandpoint