Fiscal Responsibility and Better Schools for Wallingford-Swarthmore

By Michael J. Rinaldi

While we need to deliver an outstanding educational experience, we also need to control the rate of tax increases. In recent years, our school taxes have increased by six to eight percent per year -- much higher than either the rate of inflation or the rate of tax increases in nearby school districts. Although some may argue that our property taxes are high because we do not have many commercial businesses in the school district, the lack of a commercial tax base does not explain the high annual tax increases we have consistently seen over the past decade. These increases are the result of the spending decisions made by the school board and the lack of accountability for the way money is spent. In particular, the board has mismanaged building projects, causing significant cost overruns and construction delays that hurt both our taxpayers and our students. Recently, we have also seen a significant increase in the payroll for the district's administration and supervisory staff, even though our student population has generally remained constant. We need to control these construction and administrative costs so that we can get our rate of tax increases under control and so that we can focus on our primary mission -- to provide an excellent education to our children.

On Tuesday, November 6, we can begin to change the direction of our school district. We can make sure that outstanding educational quality is linked to cost-effective spending. We can make sure that we have a tax structure that allows middle class families and retirees to continue to live in our district. We can address disparities in test scores among our district students to ensure that each of our students has the opportunity to reach his or her potential. I ask for your help in changing the direction of our school district by voting for me on Tuesday, November 6.