Tribune staff editorial

Residents in another area school district have said no to a request for more money, this time a request in the USC school district for money to build a new school.

Friday, April 05, 2002

Residents in another area school district have said no to a request for more money, this time a request in the USC school district for money to build a new school. Does it mean anything? Is it the beginning of a trend? Maybe, but it’s almost always easier to get people to say &uot;no&uot; to something than it is to get them to say yes.

And that’s unfortunate because no is an empty word, it has no weight, other than to stop something from happening. Saying no doesn’t give us a direction to go, a dream to follow, or even an action plan. It doesn’t even really tell us that the status quo is okay. It’s just a no, with no future steps included.

Those who supported the referendum and the new school at USC stuck their necks out with a plan that would do something about deteriorating conditions at existing school buildings and allow the district to make better use of 21st century classroom technology. They can at least say they tried.

Maybe the district should have held an election that presented voters with three choices: yes to new, yes to renovating, no to anything. Maybe the USC school board should have held more public meetings before they decided to go for a new building. But a three-question ballot probably wouldn’t be allowed by election laws. And would anyone have bothered coming to public meetings on an issue that’s not actually on a ballot yet? Of course, both of these ideas – and many others now being discussed -&160;are observations coming with the gift of 20/20 hindsight.

Now is well past the time for those who led the campaign to vote no to come up with ideas of their own. Now is the time for them to stick their necks out with words that have content, words that ask residents to say &uot;yes&uot; to something.

The opponents have suggested renovation; now will have to be the time when the district explores if that option makes sense. The district certainly will need to do something about its schools. The problem isn’t going away.

Are there lessons for other districts in the area as they consider excess levy referenda of their own? That’s even harder to say. The USC district has to deal with divisions and issues that are unique to their history. Perhaps one thing that is clear is that to overcome the attraction of that very loud &uot;no,&uot; those who do stick their necks out in an attempt to raise money for programs or teachers or even buildings will need to spend a lot of time building support for a referendum even before a school board authorizes one.