Reject the stinky word salad
On Nov. 3, the back side of your ballot will feature an incomprehensible “Question 2.” You will probably have a hard time understanding it. That is because it makes little or no sense.
HB 1300 was hastily put together by a small group of so-called “Republican leaders” and passed after a strictly non-bipartisan legislative process, or maybe I should say “non-process.” Those leaders are openly hostile to public education. They do however love the Educational Freedom Account school voucher program. One of them directly benefits from the EFA program by providing online classes to voucher recipients.
The EFA program is run by an out-of-state corporation, based in New York City. The Children’s Scholarship Fund skims a guaranteed 10% off the top of the funds we taxpayers send them, and they are accountable to no one. Your local school administrative unit (SAU) will be limited to just 6%.
The bill which mandated this ballot question (“HB 1300, Chapter 324, 2026”) makes even less sense than the brief and inaccurate summary on your ballot. It’s word salad, and not even good word salad: this is the stinky stuff at the bottom of the bagged salad that’s been sitting in your fridge since before Labor Day.
Keeping property taxes low is a good thing, just like eating more salad. But you should still vote “No” on Question 2. Pour the brown fluid down your drain and toss the wilted greens on your compost heap. And then wash your hands afterwards.