And in the end, a majority of voters simply didn't care enough about education. It is time to quit arguing over the size of the bond referendum. He says there is solid agreement to build a new Albemarle Middle, Central Elementary, and two K-8s and make renovations or additions to Ridgecrest, New London, Millingport, and Oakboro. In other words, the issue is over taxes. Raise taxes too high, some apparently argue, and forget the schools.
Low taxes are more important than building schools.
Let's examine that premise. The commissioners last July , on their own initiative, raised our taxes three cents to build schools. Three cents and five cents equals eight cents. We have all of our school board members now willing to support eight cents, some of whom were unwilling to support nine cents in 1998. But go over eight cents and the fragile school board support for schools falters.