Are You an Override Mom?
March 4, 2008 · Print This Article
Welcome back!
What’s an override Mom? According to Boston Globe writer, Erica Noonan they are “politically powerful suburban women who lobby for property tax increases to pay for teachers, new schools, and better classroom gear for their school-aged children.”
Well no one WANTS to pay more in taxes, but as moms and citizens who WANT services and resources that make for better living and better citizens, I don’t have much problem with these override moms.
In some states like Massachusetts there appears to be a real need for these soccer mom advocates. In 1981, that state apparently passed legislation that prohibits towns from raising property taxes more than 2.5 percent per year without voter approval.
I can imagine the frustrations some families with school aged kids experience in that state if they happen to have a school in need but a city majority that is, let’s say “older” or disengaged from education issues. It would be highly unlikely that they’d win a referendum and the schools, or perhaps even other necessary municipal services would suffer. Sounds like the situation in many struggling urban centers. It’s odd to read about suburban communities being affected that way as well.
In today’s stalled-out economy – with municiipal budget cuts and shrinking state aid – these mothers are leveraging their social connections, technical savvy, and professional skills to help bail out town budgets. They have protest placards mingling with sports gear in the back of their station wagons. Many work full-time jobs, then rush home to e-mail, organize, and raise money – sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars – in an effort to keep local schools ranked high on the MCAS.”
More power to them. If you want to read the full Globe article click here.
It’s encouraging to see such activism when it comes to helping your school. Our school district seems to have a lot of support from voters but I don’t see anybody “pounding the pavement” before a vote. More power to those moms who are making things happen!
I think it depends on the area. In AZ I woul dhave been all for it…we had stelalr schools and any extra monies would have certainly gone to make the schools even better. In my area OH I am generally opposed to tax increases for the schools. Our area is severely economically depressed and the schools ask for levies on our property every year without fail. This would be okay if the community actually saw something for their money but instead we see no real improvments and yet the requests for money get more frequent and in larger amounts all the time. Meanwhile the parents have to pay for their own supplies, they have to pay quarterly fees, they have to pay out of pocket for all sports and after school activities, etc. Parents even have to pay for report cards. The schools are completely mismanaging the money.
I think my community would be willing to pay up if there were some better managment but as it is now most parents feel they are throwing their money away and they aren’t willing to throw more.
I think this is why OH has over a half dozen online schools…because the public schools kinda suck and more money isn’t the answer….better managment and accountability is.
Yikes…look at all those typos!
Tiffany you’re absolutely right without tight management it’s a no win situation. Your community situation sounds pretty bleak. I can’t imagine paying for the report cards and all supplies! In addition to possible ineptitude at the management level, it sounds like the State needs to up their share of education costs for areas that our economically depressed in Ohio. We use to live in Brecksville, Ohio where the schools were excellent and very little was asked of parents. I guess what bugs me most is the inequity that can be in one state. The kids pay for that.