Dori: Vote no on education levy, unless you want to perpetuate free-loading attitude

In Seattle, where property taxes have skyrocketed because of McCleary Decision money for education, Seattle teachers, like the teachers in so many districts throughout the state, secured raises that the district cannot afford. Mayor Durkan is now making a push for the education levy on the ballot which is supposed to fund counseling and health clinics in K-12 schools.

That is not what the education levy is for. It is because they have to do this shell game to pay for the gigantic teacher raises. They will make any excuse for why they need a gigantic new property tax increase. The levy is also to pay for “free community college.” Actually, there is no such thing as “free” community college. It’s just making people pay for other people’s children to go to college.

Look at how much we spend on education. Look at how much it costs us. Private schools can educate kids for much less per student than the public schools. Public schools are fraught with waste. To suggest that we are not funding the schools adequately? Yeah, tell that to the people who look at their property tax bill that is sending $6,000 to the schools.  The education levy would start at $620 million over seven years. Think about those numbers. That is an extraordinary amount of money.

RELATED: Repealing Seattle head tax all about saving $620M levy

But, they always have a way to sell these things. Jenny Durkan is clever with her word games. She claims that the levy would only increase people’s payments by an average of $9 a month — but that is just the increase, not the total. She says we have two levies that are going to go away. That’s because you sold those to us as five-year levies. They do this every single time.

At the end of the fifth year, they say, “we’ll just extend the existing levy — and add another $108 per year.” And by the way, that $108 is a bogus number because they are under-calculating the value of the average house in Seattle. I hate the lying and I hate the hijacking that the schools are able to leverage because of the good hearts of people who are so easily duped.

And then there was this guy, a student at Seattle Central College whom KIRO 7 talked to about free community college. His attitude represents everything that is wrong with this city and with this education levy.

It relieves the pressure of thinking about, ‘Oh, now I gotta work, I’ve got to take a break from school because I’ve got to work first.’

That is one of the most infuriating sound bites I have ever heard. What a loser attitude that is being carefully inculcated by Seattle politicians.

“Oh, now I gotta work.” You know what? That’s life, pal. A lot of people have to pay their own way through school. For the rest of your life, unless you are successful in your pursuit for a socialist society, you’re actually going to have to work for your own stuff. I worked my way all through college, 40 to 50 hours a week. I had class early in the morning so that I could work from noon to 9 or 10 p.m. at night.

You know what I would see a lot in high schools these days? The kids who would come into the schools with their iPhone in one hand and a latte in the other and say, “my mom can’t pay for my ASB card and athletic fee. Can I get an exemption?” It’s all the same attitude. I want nice stuff, but I don’t want to work for it or pay for it.

That’s why we’ve got to raise your property taxes here in Seattle by hundreds of millions of dollars: Because that guy doesn’t want to work during community college. He doesn’t want to handle his own life. He doesn’t want to pay for himself. This loser attitude is what’s wrong with our society.

You have got to vote no on this education levy. That guy needs to learn the value of working and taking care of his own life.

Follow @http://www.twitter.com/dorimonson