Education is a public good

This can't be said often enough, or explained clearly enough. So I'll give it another try: Education is a public good. "Public good" has a very specific sense, and implies the following: everyone benefits when we provide education for our kids. And I mean everyone. Not just those who happen to have kids right now. Not just those who choose to send their kids to public school right now. But everyone. And most people will benefit in multiple ways.
Some of these ways are obvious. Here's maybe a not so obvious way, though possibly the most important way: If the kids growing up in your neighborhood have a better shot at a decent future, then your community will have a better shot at a decent future, and so will you. Conversely, if the kids growing up around you are looking at a bleak future because their education is woefully inadequate, then the future of your community/state/nation will be correspondingly bleak, and so of course the future that we all face will darken.
Here are some other, more obvious ways.

• If your school district provides a good education for the children of your district, your home value will go up.
• If your district provides a good education for the kids in your town, then those kids will go on, be more successful, and fill the roles that are crucial for our complicated world. We need scientists, health-care professionals, information technologists, not to mention leaders and thinkers and wise people in general, given the problems we're handing off to the next generation.
• Since people often think that there's a conflict between the interests of kids and the interests of the elderly, those people should know that the better our kids do, the more they'll pay into Social Security, and the longer the Social Security system will remain viable.

Maybe that's enough for now, even though there's obviously lots more to say here. I'm sure I'll return to this theme.

The most basic aspects of school finance in Missouri

1. Operating levies v. bond issues.
Voters are often asked to approve a bond issue or an operating tax levy by their local school districts. Both of these are paid as property tax; however, they are very different.

• When voters approve a bond issue, they are essentially allowing the school district to borrow money for specific capital projects (e.g., building new schools, renovating old ones, updating athletic facilities, etc.). Bond issue funds cannot be used to pay salaries, give raises, provide benefits, etc.
• It is with its operating levy that a school district pays its regular recurring expenses, like teacher salaries, utility bills, liability insurance, etc.