OPINION: APS kids need to be able to keep their cool in school

I generally vote against general obligation bonds. I’ve never had kids to send to school, and asking taxpayers to fund schools through both income and property taxes feels like double-dipping to me, especially with New Mexico holding a $66 billion sovereign wealth fund pumped full of oil and gas royalties and fees.

I’m usually a “no” vote on judicial retentions as well. I figure someone has to vote against judges to keep them on their toes. And I now always vote against constitutional amendments proposed by Democrats, no matter how they dress them up, after we got bamboozled in November 2016.

The proposed constitutional amendment in 2016 was pitched as a public safety measure, although in reality it all but ended cash and property bonds in New Mexico courts. That was one of the most egregious bait-and-switch propositions I’ve seen. The ballot language said nothing about “cash bail” and passed with 87.2% support among voters. We were hoodwinked by liberals in the Legislature and judicial branch who are philosophically opposed to cash bail and who gave us our current catch-and-release criminal justice system.

So color me skeptical when elected leaders ask for my support at the ballot. I’m leaning “heck no” on everything, although sometimes I can be persuaded.

The Journal Editorial Board met on Oct. 3 with top leaders of Albuquerque Public Schools regarding their proposed $350 million bond election on Nov. 4 ballots. They made a good case, stating that $40.2 million would be used to replace swamp coolers with air conditioning at 20 campuses — five middle schools, 14 elementary schools and one alternative high school.

Gone are the days of film noir judges, jurors and attorneys fanning themselves in sweltering courtrooms. Every courtroom I’ve covered across five states has air conditioning in the 21st century. You don’t want heated jurors making rash decisions like in “12 Angry Men” in order to get out of the building and cool off.

Kids deserve and need air-conditioned buildings, too, to concentrate and think about something other than their sweltering classroom.

A total of $70.4 million of the $350 million bond would be used for “right-sizing priorities,” including building a $15 million special needs facility on the city’s West Side, a $30 million classroom block at Taylor Middle School and $25.4 million for a career technical education training facility, something the Ed Board has supported for years. We need more welders and plumbers and fewer community organizers and social justice warriors. They build nothing but division.

Roughly half of the bond, $173.7 million, would be used to finish 13 previously approved projects at schools stalled by increased construction costs.

The one hesitation I had for upgrading Albuquerque’s schools was whether the buildings would be open very long. APS will have to close schools in the upcoming years as enrollment continues to decline. It’s a certainty, just a matter of time. The district was designed for 100,000 students but now has roughly 65,000. However, that doesn’t mean today’s APS kids should suffer.

Kizito Wijenje, executive director of the district’s capital master plan, said the schools slated for an air conditioning overhaul are expected to remain open for 20 years or more.

If there’s one thing I’m for spending taxpayer money on it’s the kids, even though I don’t have any. The kids are our nation’s future, and I want them to have all the classroom and playground opportunities my “Sesame Street” generation had.

My grade school and junior high weren’t air-conditioned 50 years ago, but we didn’t go back to school in August, there were no summer programs, and Hoosiers didn’t go to school in the American Southwest.

The least we can do for New Mexico kids is keep them cool at school in the late spring and late summer when the current swamp coolers aren’t up for the task.

I encourage voters to support the APS bond. I may just vote for it myself.