Voting against school funding costs homeowners in long run

Cheers to Kitsap Sun columnist Dr. Niran Al-Agba for bringing out a seldom-considered aspect of the rejected CKSD school levy – the 182 lost local jobs if the levy fails again.Another aspect rarely mentioned is the financial harm that homeowners rejecting school bonds and levies may do to themselves. I’ve never had kids, but I always vote for local public school funding for the most selfish of reasons – the value of my house.Home prices are impacted by many factors we can’t control – the economy, interest rates, housing inventory, comps – but one factor we can affect is the image of our community to potential home buyers with children. A school bond rejection makes headlines that proclaim a lack of local support for public schools. And house hunters who want quality public education for their kids may steer away from the community towards one that does support school funding.A 2020 study by the Harvard Kennedy School found that a 1 percent increase in school spending increases local house prices by 0.95 percent. An earlier study found that for every $1 increase in per pupil school expenditure, per pupil housing values increase by about $20.Yet only a third of school bonds proposed in Washington this year have passed. (Most got a majority of votes, but only 7 of 21 got the required supermajority.) So homeowners voting no to save a few hundred dollars in taxes may have cost themselves thousands in home values.I hope CKSD voters won’t make that same mistake again.

Mike Gaynes, Bremerton