Instead of pouring money into the school, the town gave its residents a large tax break. Most of them have little interest in the local school. Whiting isn't unique. In ACT-60's first year, most of the money taken from the Gold Towns and given to poorer towns has gone into tax relief. That sounds good but the reality is often far different.
Whiting is a good example.
The town is slowly losing families with schoolage children and the school population is dropping. This year there are no kindergarten students. Because of this, acting principal Kellogg believes the school may have to close in a few years. We're worried about, can we afford to keep it open with our population declining, or if we keep it open are we going to have to start decreasing staff, decreasing programs like art and music. Critics charge that Whiting's experience proves that ACT-60 has backfired.