Shame on those who voted 'no' on school bond

Dear editor:

I am writing in response to a disturbing phone call I just received from my mother.

I am a student at the University of Idaho. I am studying Elementary Education.

My mom just called and informed me that the school bond did not pass. This news not only saddened but infuriated me. Even though it is too late now to make a difference I would like those who voted "no" to realize the damage they have caused.

The fact that this bond did not pass hits me especially close to home. Not only is my mother a teacher in the Mountain Home School District, but I also plan to be within the next couple years, and my younger brother just started kindergarten there.

I remember my senior year in high school, three years ago. We didn't have enough books. We couldn't take them home because there wasn't enough to go around. I didn't receive the education that I deserved because, although I had great teachers, I was not able to readily use the materials I needed to help me learn. I made it through OK I suppose; I made it here.

However, I have had to struggle harder then most to catch up to the levels I should be at to go to school here.

If the school district had more money this wouldn't have happened. There are less then 20 students enrolled in this university from Mountain Home, and I believe that number would be a lot higher if Mountain Home could provide a better education.

I'm not knocking the school district here either. They are doing all they can with what they have. It's the people that provide the school district with money, or lack thereof, that are to blame.

Furthermore, it's not because everybody wants to go to BSU. Sure, their football team is better, but hands down Idaho is a better university. It is about $3,500 cheaper a year to go here, we have less crowded classrooms, and we have more accredited colleges, along with the highest average GPA in the Western Athletic Conference.

It brought tears to my eyes earlier when I realized that my little brother is now not going to have access to the education that he deserves.

The Mountain Home School District is in desperate need of more buildings to house the children they are trying to educate. Classroom overcrowding is not only hard on the teachers, it makes a horrible learning environment for the children, too.

It is impossible for one person to help a class of 32 children the way they need to be helped in order to learn. You can ask any teacher, or any education methods class professor, it is impossible. If we had enough room to have classrooms of 22 it would make an immense difference on the education of our children.

I have been told that at Hacker Middle School there are classes taking place on the stage in the old gym -- and even on the old gym floor -- because they do not have room for all the students.

How on earth can we expect a student to learn what he or she needs to learn when we can't even provide them a proper learning environment? It evokes an image in my mind of commercials on TV when kids are sitting on a dirt floor staring at a chalk board trying to learn. Which, I might add, is very sad. This isn't a third world country. This is the United States of America, arguably the most powerful country in the world. Yet we don't have the money we need to put our children in a real classroom setting. There is something wrong with that.

I guess the part that bothers me the most about this whole ordeal is the taxpayers that are too cheap to part with their money. Those of you that voted no because you didn't want your taxes to go up, are you really that selfish? This is the future of our community, state and even country here! It's not like education is something that is unnecessary or that is done just to do it. Someday these children will be running this country!

I would like to say that those of you that voted "no" for this reason should be ashamed of yourselves. In Mountain Home the average family's taxes would have gone up about $200 a year if this passed. That's $16 a month, less than the cost of feeding a family of four at McDonalds, and about the price of HBO.

I am a college student and I barely had enough money to buy the books I needed this semester. However, I still spent about $100 on gas to drive home so I could register for an absentee ballot just to vote yes. I spent in one weekend what most of you would have spent in six months if this passed just to vote on this bond! Are you people honestly that selfish that you don't care about the youth of this country?

In closing I would just like to reiterate that those of you who voted "no" don't even realize the mistake you have made. Someday these kids will be the nurses and doctors taking care of you in your old age. Better hope they were able to learn their basic math correctly when they are getting ready to load you up with meds, and the doctors that prescribed them know how to spell what they are giving you correctly.

Okay, I guess that sounds a little ridiculous, they would learn to write and count in college. Of course they have to have an education that allows them to be able to score high enough on the ACT or SAT to get into a college first. Maybe we just won't have doctors or nurses in the future.

I guess that sounds a little ridiculous, too. However, if every school district was forced to teach in the environment that Mountain Home does that could be a real possibility.

Why should Mountain Home have to have a lesser education system than everybody else? Our children deserve better than this.

Brendan Ash