And, Sharon – I’m not going to dignify your “remedial” thoughts with any comments. What a snoot.

The Ballot Measure sent out by Ada County doesn’t add any information for voters. Are you suggesting that we taxpayers shouldn’t ask questions about this proposal because to do so complicates the issue?

I know nothing about the “model” you referred to and the proponents of this measure have made no effort to educate me. The Ballot Measure itself makes no effort to educate me. You apparently consider financial questions to be complications. OK, I think I get it. Let’s keep this very simple. A simple YES or NO will do. No problemo.

Why should we, as taxpayers, subsidize the re-education efforts of students who didn’t learn what they should have in high school? To add insult to injury, BSU has high drop-out rates for first-year students. So what is it that our public funds are buying for us?

Remedial classes could be offered in a night school or community college setting far more cost effectively. Administration and faculty costs could be significantly reduced, since CC faculty would not have to have the advanced degrees found desirable within the university system.

I am not arguing against the VALUE of having a local community college. My concern is who will pay for it.

And, I think that if we use the same model as has been used for No and So Idaho cc – things will be fine – the system has already been worked out. It’s working! It’s not like we are trying to do something in the state that is unprecidented. So, those comparisons you make are like comparing apples and organes.

Gemma’s earlier post –

Mr. Logic, can you please tell us what we should be supporting? Also, my daughter was one of those low grade kids at BSU a few years ago. She just didn’t transition into college well. But, she transferred to No. Idaho college, then to WSU, then to Harvard for law school, then to a Fortune 10 company. So, let’s lay off insulting kids who have low grades or want VoTech educations.

It doesn’t mean they are losers. My other daughter tried to get into BSU, but she was put on a waiting list for the nursing program. A community college would most likely MAKE ROOM at BSU so more of our kids in Idaho can get an education.

EDITOR NOTE–You must be proud! WIth regard to the nursing program, the problem there is from having such a well run program that is popular with students and employers (hospitals and docs). There are just a limited number of slots available and the graduation ratio is very high once they get
in. There are just too many factors on this issue to offer informed opinion at this point. One solution would be to EXPAND BSU nursing rather than duplicate it.

Ada County homeowners, among those in other areas, have been quite vocal about wanting a reduction in their escalating property taxes. Add to this that our Seniors and other fixed income folks are especially vulnerable to the present no-holds-barred property taxation scheme.

While a local Community College (Junior College) may be a desirable goal to many, the ballot measure itself sure doesn’t shed any light on who pays how much and for how long. In fact, don’t look for any details in your Absentee Ballot as there are none – zip zero.

There isn’t even a simple statement indicating that a vote FOR establishing the community college district is a vote FOR creating a TAXING DISTRICT with the power to levy taxes on real property owners. That is very controversial in my humble opinion.

As for cost estimates provided by the Idaho State Tax Commission, or anyone else for that matter, how often are those accurate? Does anyone remember how University Place was supposed to work? Or the Ada County Courthouse financing scheme? Or has anyone noticed that the GARVEE bonds are suddenly funding only a fraction of the road projects that were promised?

A local community college could be paid for with existing funding if the entrance standards were raised for the relatively costly university system, and the universities stopped offering remedial classes.

The rest of us have either researched this issue or have been directly impacted by the lack of local cc (I have done both). With the Micron CEO’s comments this past week (that they don’t need to expand or invest in the US), the Treasure Valley needs to think about how it will survive if we lose/downsize a company like Micron.

PS – And, Sarah, I think Vicki was just making the point that many people commenting on this issue seem to have their heads up the clouds (i.e. she was making an analogy). I, on the other hand, think people have their head up something else. This really is NOT a controversial issue.

The people of Oregon are not going to fund that.

Sorry if bringing in 9/11 offends anyone, but sometimes when issues are important, these kinds of analogies must be drawn. And yes, this IS important enough to the Treasure Valley to be passionate about it. Our students deserve no less.