Bethel request of voters is 'foolish'

Bethel School District’s pitch is that all that new stuff will actually cost less (re: “Bethel growth brings on bond,” Feb. 1).  Don’t fall for it.  The huge $593 million price tag for the three ballot propositions is more than double what voters twice wisely rejected in 2016. No more aquatics center and spa, now it’s three Taj Mahals, even more out of place in the rural environment. Conspicuously absent in the pitch is the individual taxpayer share for the full 21-year term of the bond. None of the bond money goes toward salaries of teachers, whose work is the core of public education. The district instead wastes money on lobbyists and attorneys to change state rules so it can plop mega-campuses into rural areas, extend sewer lines and broker hookups to developers waiting on the side. Voters should again reject this foolish scheme.

George Wearn

Graham