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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Welcome to the MCTA

The MCTA is a grassroots non-partisan citizens group whose purpose is to oppose the ever-increasing appetite of our local governments for our hard-earned tax dollars. 

The MCTA will be actively opposing the Mehlville School District's PROPOSITION C. Prop C will raise our real estate and personal property taxes by 25 percent! (88 cents per $100 of assessed valuation)
PROPOSITION C allows the Board of Education to spend this huge tax increase on anything they want. Only 1 cent of the 88-cent levy MUST be spent on construction. The largest expenditure will be raising employee salaries and benefits to the “county median” of union scale. Big raises for the bureaucrats mean big bills for us! 

We will be announcing a public town hall forum very shortly and have formed a campaign committee to oppose this unprecedented transfer of wealth to local public employees.
The MCTA urges you to donate to our efforts to defeat PROPOSITION C. Make checks payable to the MCTA and send them to:

MCTA
P.O. Box 515064
St. Louis, MO 63151

If you want to get involved, contact Greg Frigerio, Treasurer at 314-892-9411

NO CREDIBILITY, NO 25% TAX INCREASE, NO ON C!

10 comments:

  1. Why are you holding such a grudge against the board? I understand the fact that they have lost their credibility. But you must remember the bottom line. The reason PROP C is being put on the ballot. The reason I go to work everyday in a district that pays me $10K less then other districts. Our kids! Our kids have the right to an education in a safe setting. It's not fair that we have students who are reading below grade level and we don't have the staff to accomidate these students to bring them up to their grade level. It's not the students' fault that their school building is sinking into a sinkhole (Buerkle Middle School). If you have students in the district then why are you punishing them? Don't they deserve a great education??? Don't they deserve to be taught by teachers who are highly qualified??? Yes, the majority of PROP C goes toward staff salaries. Did you know that we are the lowest in St. Louis County when it comes to teacher salaries? (I'm not talking about Central Office staff...their salaries are a diffent story that I won't go into) Mehlville is a training place for great teachers! They start in our district, gain experience, and then leave to other districts that pay them better. MUCH BETTER!! Is this fair to our kids? Did you know that Buerkle Middle School has more than 10 new staff this year? Only two retired at the end of the year last school year! At least 8 have left for higher pay in other districts.

    You said it yourself, times are hard. But we must make sacrifices for the things that are priorities. For the things that are important. Teachers work hard and make sacrifices everyday for your kids! Teachers don't get a 30 minute lunch. They spend it working with the kids who need the extra help. Teachers stay after school, unpaid, to work with students who need extra help. Teachers spend their planning period calling parents to set up tutoring time (unpaid) to help their kids succeed. Teachers spend their evenings grading papers, researching lesson plans, shopping for materials (out of their pocket, not reimbursed), and searching for resources and other activites to help students in need, all while trying to spend some time with their own family and helping their own children with their homework. It's a hard thing to do, but we do it everyday because we LOVE our job. When you leave your job, do you spend extra 4 - 5 hours working at home every night ignoring your family? Do you pay for materials needed at your job out of your own pocket? Do you work through your lunch? Do you not get a break to use the restroom when you need it?

    I challenge you to think beyond the Board of Education. Yes they made HUGE mistakes! I will not defend them. I too was angry at their decisions. But you must remember the reason we have our district, our schools, our teachers....to provide a HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION to our students in a SAFE SETTING! Our goal is to help each and every student succeed, but we need help from the parents, taxpayers, and business members in our district community! WE CAN'T DO IT ALONE! Everyone has to be on the same page with the same goals.

    If you want to send a message to the board, vote them out. Start a campaigne to have them removed, but don't, I beg you, don't punish our kids who deserve a high quality education!

    Thank you for your time.

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  2. We are not punishing anyone. We believe that this tax increase is too great of a burden on taxpayers and must be stopped.

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  3. I don't have a dog in this fight and I’m not in the Mehlville School district however I've been following this insane story for months. A group of us, very similar to the group that presented information today in the Call, laugh hysterically about the proposal being spoon fed to the Taxpayers in Mehlville.

    A previous blog responder contends the group that is opposing the tax increase has a “grudge” against this tax increase. I don’t see it that way. I believe the article in the CALL was 100% on target and this group has a “grudge” against taxation that people in this economy cannot afford.

    I know I could not afford this tax increase but I sure would like one of those 6% raises or $10K windfall. Yup I’d think I died and went to heaven too. Those on fixed incomes have not gotten a Social Security increase in awhile and it’s doubtful they will get one this year either. How will they be able to afford the tax increase?

    Does anyone know what their County taxes will be after all the blended rate activity is completed? Let’s not forget there are other county taxing groups looking for tax increases too. The State is also having fiscal issues and State taxes will be going up and services will be going down. What’s the chance the Utilities will stay the same or go down?

    I don’t even want to talk about the Feds and what’s in store for us there. WOW! Any idea what bureaucrats in St. Louis County are thinking about doing with home assessments? Now that’s a very easily understood process too, almost as understandable as the Mehlville school district Proposition C.

    We’ve seen where the school board has lost its credibility but don’t be alarmed, Tom Diehl, Board of Education President, might change his mind and watch out for your tax dollars on a fact finding trip to Maui funded by Proposition C.

    We really enjoy the entertainment provided by those in Mehlville who are in favor of Proposition C and encourage you to keep the articles coming. LOL LOL LOL

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  4. These are the same taxpayers who will spend $5.00 a day on pack of cigarettes, $4.00 a day for a coffee, $3.00 a day for soda, but won't spend $1.00 a day for a child's education. Really???? Priorities people....priorities!!!!

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  5. As a resident who has no children in the Mehlville district and whose property value has already dropped 20%, I see no purpose in handing another 25% in taxes over just to make the teachers happy.

    The Mehlville school district cannot provide a high quality educational product with the money they already have. It seems that this district is operated only in the self-interest of the employees - not the kids. That's what my neighbors my wife and I think and the reason why Proposition C will fail.

    This district wastes money faster than it can collect it!

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  6. People, let us get the facts straigth. Based on data provided for the year 2009 from the Missouri School Directory a sampling of the Average Total Teacher salaries of school districts in St Louis county;Affton $55,705, Bayless $44,944, Brentwood $63,398, Clayton $66,509, Ferguson/Florissant $52,627, Hancock $48,524, Kirkwood $62,140, Webster G $59037, Pattonville $57,949, Parkway $56,078 and Mehlville $50,910. I do not see a figure that is $10,000 less and puts the Mehlville teachers in the position of last place in pay scale.
    Regarding the comment about a sinking school. I do not recall reading that but if it was stated by the board has anyone asked to see the soil report and structural engineering analysis addressing a sinking building?
    I love what I do too. I work through lunch, I miss birhtdays, I work on Saturdays, I listen to adult people problems every day, I am at work at 6am and get off at 5PM, I get 7 holidays and I get a day off when my business lets me. We work in hot weather, cold weather, rainy weather, snowy weather and everything in between. So let's not get on the band wagon about how hard it is.
    I face every day the threat of empoyees jumping ship. That is their choice. I figure out how to fill that void if the person leaves. One thing i don't do is give the remaining employees a raise every time a person leaves. I would be broke.
    I believe that the teachers of the district do a great job. Unfortunately the board has lost the trust of the people that pays the bills of this district, the taxpayers. Just today in the Post Dispatch it was announced by the City of Chesterfield that they will have to lay off 17 people due to loss revenue. And I quote the Mayor, John Nations, "I have to justify what we do to the taxpayers of this city". That is quite a difference from the quote at the top of this blog site. People just do not have the money and trust in the board any longer.
    We all choose our professions. No one had our arm behind our back. We have to take the good with the bad. If you can not handle that then you need to find another occupation.
    Oh and please leave the children out of it. Becuase I still can't seem to think how site drainage improvements, more parking spaces, and up graded HVAC systems improve test scores.

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  7. As a parent with children in the Mehlville School District, I am opposed to the tax increase. Not everyone in this district is blessed with a well-paying job, benefits, and several months of vacation. But those who are, should consider themselves fortunate and stop whining about raises. I haven't had a raise in over two years and had my hours cut to four days a week. I've worked two--sometimes three jobs--to keep a roof over my kids and food on the table, but there just isn't any more MONEY to give to these people now so that the teachers (starting level makes more than me, and I'm degreed)can have THEIR raise. Yes, there are some well-off people who, for reasons of their own (most of which I agree with), are opposed to this increase. But don't forget, there are some out here struggling to get by that simply DO NOT HAVE IT. It's not .88 cents...it's HUNDREDS of dollars per year on my modest home (which I am now under water on!) And by the way, I'm a non-smoker, do not buy coffee out or go out to eat much ever, and don't drink soda. Sometimes it pains me to have to tell my kids I can't buy them this or that, but we just cannot afford everything we want. This isn't about me making a few sacrifices. I already am.

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  8. Uh, Clark Family, may I point out that it's $5 a day we’re talking about here and not $1 a day. I’m already paying a rate of $4 a day and you want to add another dollar on top of that. I guess you’re using “Mehlville Math.”


    And, Clark family, on top of your bad math, you now want to dictate how I should spend MY money and are whining because I want to buy coffee and cigarettes with MY money – because YOU want ME to spend more of MY money on YOUR kid. Wah wah…


    Clark family, where are your priorities? No one is stopping you, or any other family in the district, from paying MORE taxes voluntarily to the school district each year. Go ahead and write your check, payable to the Mehlville School District, for what you think the district needs. Why do you have to wait for a tax increase to do this? Go ahead and donate all that you want.


    Just don’t dictate to me how you think I should spend MY money, and I won’t stop you from writing a large check to the district. Go ahead, put your money where your whining is. I dare you...

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  9. Oct 7 "The Concord Call" Restore the Pride committee takes out a full page ad to illustrate where Mehlville School District stands in relation to 22 other districts in per student spending. Ok lets look at the facts. they say our students can't compete with disticts that spend thoudsands more per pupil. Really! Out of the 20 districts that spend "thousands" more than MSD only 10 achieve higher ACT Composite Scores. And Clayton is at the top of list.
    They say our community can't attract families and business if we don't invest in education. Right! How is that Boeing moved its headquaters to Chicago? Why did Chrysler and Ford close? I am sure it was because of the poor school district they were in. Clayton school district is so bad Brown Shoe cancelled a major building project. Businesses do not come to districts just because of the schools. They come to an area that offers TIF monies or tax credits. And guess who gets to make up the difference. You got it, The taxpayer. We can't protect the investment we've made in our homes if the quailty of our schools fall behind they say. I don't know about all of you but having lived in the district for 26 years I have never had the value of my home depreciate below my investment.
    And the scare tactics just keep on rolling on. Come on people enough is enough.

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  10. Thank you thank you thank you for defeating this. Awesome campaign and keep up the great work. Without you guys we would not of destroyed this fairy tale out of control tax. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!

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