Josh wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2024 5:39 pm
In my own state’s education budget a great deal of money comes from federal grants (often in the form of buildings). Along with that money comes federal control.
It would be better to simply:
- Not tax or go into so much federal debt in the first place
- States or local governments could decide to raise taxes, or go into debt, for things like building schools, Medicaid, and so on.
- Then different states and cities would have different mixes of programs, and people could choose what they like best. Maybe one city or state wants universal healthcare. Another state decides to not spend so much in building school buildings and instead focuses on, say, providing more support to homeschoolers
In my years of experience, I've never seen federal money for an entire school building, only for specific and relatively minor projects like security upgrades, and only within the last year or two.
In Ohio, local school districts can't raise taxes or go into debt without voter approval. Even when there's state money offered for a building, there's a local match that has to be voted on if it can't be covered by existing funding.
And yes, people do choose what they like best. One district near me has relatively new buildings; the voters approved bond issues for them. An adjoining district has a high school that's over 50 years old and not in great shape; the state has offered to fund well over half the cost of a new one, but the property owners have decided at least three times that they prefer lower taxes.
So whatever the problems are with federal spending, and there are many, school buildings in Ohio aren't part of it. Try another bunny trail.