On July 19th, we'll all go to the polls for a special vote on a series of ballot propositions related to millage rates and public school funding. This is an important vote.
We need to vote to renew the public school tax millage. It translates to approximately $1000 per pupil, regardless of whether we're talking about OPSB, RSD, or Charter.
I was reminded of this because I got a flier in the mail today from the Public Education Progress Committee (RSD-birthed org). It was paid for by Keep New Orleans Moving Forward (chaired by C.B Forgotson in 2003).
The flier told me to go to timetorenew.org to get the facts. There, they have some of the relevant bullet points as to why it is a good idea to renew the millage.
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But the flier wasn't the only thing I got that had me thinking about going to the polls. I also got a few different emails. The first two were from the RSD about various community stakeholder meetings on O.C. Haley Blvd on the evening of July 10th and the morning of July 11th. I'm a little bit confused about the meeting schedule because the emails are 100% identical except they refer to different meeting times and were sent out to different stakeholder groups.
I'd like to find out who got invited to what.
But that's secondary because I became concerned with this sentence in the email:
Please join the Recovery School District and the Orleans Parish School Board for a briefing on the status of the School Facility Master Plan and the Millage Renewal campaign.
Yet I became concerned because another email showed up in my mailbox that expressed a different take on the RSD phrasing.
Anonymous inside sources took notes at a behind-the-scenes planning session that occurred just the other day. This meeting was a discussion of the campaign for millage renewal but my sources became concerned by the way certain parties and meeting documents continuously coupled the millage effort with a campaign for acceptance of the RSD School Facilities Master Plan. This appears to be an inappropriate turn of events because nobody has seen the Master Plan and it figures to be extremely controversial given the firms involved and the rubber-stamp public participation process.
It becomes even more troubling when you understand that this campaign will not only be a well-funded advertising and PR blitz but will also work behind the scenes to secure the endorsements of various municipal and state elected officials.
The meeting included various millage campaign stakeholders including several members of the Orleans Parish School Board. Most interesting was the participation of professional firms the Brylski Company and Bill Rousselle's Bright Moments. If I had any doubts that my inside sources were on to something, take a look at the current campaigns touted on the Bright Moments website. While they are indeed working on the Time to Renew campaign, they are also under contract with the Recovery School District for . . .
"community outreach to ensure broad public participation in Master Planning for the entire New Orleans Public School System"
Is the Bright Moments team mixing messages? If advertising materials and/or official lobbying efforts are coupling the "nonaffiliated" millage renewal campaign and the RSD-affiliated facilities master plan, which bureaucracy signs the invoice?
Certainly this isn't the last we'll hear on this matter.
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