Should DeKalb voters approve the penny sales tax for schools?
Voters in Atlanta, DeKalb, Decatur and Fulton will decide Tuesday whether to extend a penny sales tax to help fund their local schools. The question on the 1-cent education special-purpose local option sales tax, known as E-SPLOST, will appear on primary ballots.
A DeKalb education advocate says the additional tax revenue is vital to the vision of the new superintendent, Steve Green.
“DeKalb has a superintendent who has led his team through a major survival exercise. Critical issues such as Cross Keys Cluster overcrowding, schools targeted for Opportunity School District takeover, and the system flexibility decision greeted Dr. Green on his first day of work last July,” says Allyson Gevertz.
Because of Green’s track record, Gevertz says DeKalb voters should approve the E-SPLOST Tuesday. “This strategic thinking is unprecedented in DeKalb, but it is the reason DeKalb is poised to survive and thrive — no more freezing in place. Superintendent Green does not operate in the ‘DeKalb Way’ and that is why I support his plan for SPLOST V,” she says.
To read more, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.
About the Author
Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.
