In his column Cochran has succeeded in spreading anti-bond message, Wichita Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz argues for the passage of the Wichita school bond issue. This is the same Bob Lutz who, on learning that the Wichita school board might cut some spending on athletic facilities from the bond issue, became “flustered now about how to vote.” (Will Bob Lutz Follow Jeff Davis on the Wichita School Bond Issue?)
Here’s a huge leap in faith and logic that Lutz makes in his column:
When I am hit up to pay more taxes, the first question I ask myself is this: Will this better my community.
To that end, this is a no-brainer. Nothing is more important than our schools.
What he says that’s true is that schools are important. But they don’t necessarily have to be our schools — that is, schools owned and operated by USD 259, the Wichita school district, and its current board and administration. There are many successful alternatives, which as illustrated in the screening of Flunked the Movie, often cost much less than current public school spending. These alternatives such as charter schools are popular in many places across the country. They’re generally not available so that Kansas schoolchildren may benefit, as our state’s charter school law is so weak and so stacked in favor of those who oppose choice that charter schools are rarely proposed.
But the biggest leap Lutz makes is the unquestioned and unfounded assumption that more investment in the USD 259 monopoly is what’s best for our community.
Cochran’s group paid a lot of money to host the screening of Flunked. It paid for Steven Maggi, the producer of the movie, to be in Wichita. I don’t know if Cochran personally invited Lutz to see the movie, but it was advertised and promoted in Lutz’s newspaper. Why, Mr. Lutz, didn’t you attend this movie?
It’s a good thing that Lutz views the school bond issue decision as a “no-brainer.” Considering his unfounded leaps of logic and unwillingness to look outside the existing education orthodoxy for solutions, it’s a type of decision he’s certainly qualified to make.