Paying the price for excellent schools

Local taxpayers are being asked to ante up once again for the sake of public education. The Las Virgenes Unified School District announced that it wants to extend the $98 per home Measure E parcel tax, due to expire next year. A recent survey, as we learn in Stephanie Bertholdo's page one story, found that homeowners who pay the annual tax are willing to continue with the imposition, but not if it means paying a higher rate.

In light of last year's failed bond measure in Oak Park, the Las Virgenes school officials would be wise to keep the rate consistent with what taxpayers are used to. Voters have proven they are willing to pay a premium for their excellent schools, but they will only go so far.

The annual tax guarantees almost $2 million in added revenues for Las Virgenes schools. Programs and classroom needs will be taken care of, and there will be no money earmarked for new construction. The district recently completed what probably will be its final major expansion, the new Yerba Buena Elementary School. What's needed now is to preserve the top quality educational services that residents have grown accustomed to.

Oak Park found out the hard way in a pair of votes last year that with school enrollment growth stagnating, any requests for new construction projects will fall on deaf ears. Oak Park voters twice defeated a school bond measure aimed at new buildings and facilities. In 2004, however, the same voters passed a parcel tax for ongoing budget maintenance by a convincing 80 percent.

With careful planning and proper oversight we see no reason why voters should be averse to continuing the parcel tax in the Las Virgenes district, or in Oak Park for that matter. But we agree with Terilyn Finders, Las Virgenes school board president, that the tax extension should not give the district a "blank check" for spending.

Neither Oak Park nor Las Virgenes is growing like they did in the past and the old war cry of crowded classrooms rings shallow. Still, there are pressing needs that remain. When the time comes, voters should give serious consideration to the extension of the Las Virgenes Measure E tax.