I am a student at Arkansas High. I stand amazed by the community of Texarkana, Ark., as a whole. There is a small group of about 1,087 people who look beyond themselves and see the investment that would be made by giving up a little extra money. The increase of 1.7 mills would amount to less than $40 dollars a year for the average Texarkana, Ark., household. Thats less than 10 cents a day that apparently, the majority of the people in Texarkana are just to selfish to give that up.

In the Texarkana Gazette, on Wednesday, a member of our community was quoted as saying, ‘Its nothing more than taxes and what they (voters) thought about no new taxes and we all heard it loud and clear. Now, Im a strong advocate of free speech, however I also believe you should pay attention to what you allow come out of your mouth. When I read that quote that morning it bothered me. I always felt personally connected to the millage increase. It directly affects the facilities my peers will learn in. When I read, ‘Its nothing more than taxes... it felt like he was calling my friends taxes. To me what he really said was, ‘I dont care about the children at Arkansas High, I care about my money. The only thing these children ask for is a community effort to get a better learning environment.

So, of the 2,140 that voted against new taxes, how many of them thought all the way through about what they were voting for. Im sure most people at least thought, ‘Well, why should they get more of my money? I wonder how many people thought far enough to think, ‘That high school theyre trying to replace isnt all that bad. I doubt anyone thought that. The people who actually thought down to the real issue voted for the millage increase.

The supporters of the millage want to build a new high school building with good reason. I challenge you to take a walk around Arkansas High. Start with the new building. Its a nice place. You cant really decide what color the walls are, but it is clearly a nice building. It gives you a pleasant feeling. The windows are intact. The tiles are all whole. Youll find students behave nicely in this building. Now, cross the pathway which forms the harsh gradient between old and new. You enter the old building and you might stop for a second. It looks old. It sounds old. It feels old. Worst of all, it smells old. Walk through the halls and youll feel dirty. The whole building is dirty. Its not the kind of dirty you can wash off with some soap and a wet rag. No, this is grime accumulated over years of use. The school board was right to ask you for the money to build a better learning environment for the students at Arkansas High.

My guess is that most people thought, ‘They have the money to put the administration in a new building. Why didnt that money go towards building a new high school building? That administration has spent some where in the area of 15 million dollars on student facilities in the past 3 years. That administration building may have been 1 million dollars. They want to spend 8.2 million dollars more on the students. So weve got an amount in the ballpark of 23 million dollars in four to five years that the administration plans to spend on the students. They only spent a small fraction of that much on themselves in over thirty years.

If youve ever been to the current administration building you know why they had another one built. To put it metaphorically, the administration is the brain of the Texarkana, Ark., School District. Their job is to make decisions of the district. If you have the brain crammed into a space that is too small and crowded it wont function properly and it will definitely hurt a lot. The current administrative facilities are overcrowded and obsolete. So, theyve created a better place for themselves to perform their duties.

So, you finally got your say. Before the election the Community for Responsible Government presented several so-called ‘facts regarding taxes and fees that the citizens of Texarkana, Ark., were being ‘forced to pay with out their approval. ‘We had no say! proclaimed their flier five times. Well guess what, sometimes you dont have a say. I dont get choose whether I go to school or not. However, I still go to school on a regular basis. Players dont get to choose what plays the football team runs. However, they execute these plays without question for the good of the team. If they fail to execute, as the community did on the 8th, they are victim of a speech which will end with the immortal words of a local football coach, ‘We dont need you.

If you had no say, what say do you think the lowly school board had? They arent top government officials, theyre volunteers. The members on the school board dont get paid. They voluntarily give up their time, for free, to try to create a better situation for us kids. Specifically, those kids who may not have any other shot to make it in the world, aside from learning something at the Texarkana , Ark., School District. The school board cares about the kids. They want the best for the kids. Keep in mind, whatever tax youre paying, theyre paying it too. Theyre not just asking you to give up some change, theyre giving of themselves as well as giving up their own change.

So, returning to the point that bothered me more than anything. Apparently, to the majority of Texarkana, Arkansas, my peers and I are just a waste of money. Is that what they all really think? It must be, or you wouldnt have voted against the millage. So I have to thank you. Thank you for being honest. Thank you for letting me know that you care more for your pocket book than you do for the TASD. I would imagine the teachers would like to thank you as well. I can personally testify to how much they ‘love the building that some of them are made to teach in.

In closing, I would like to ask you to think. Stop and think about the 1,300 students and nearly 100 educators currently at Arkansas High. Think about the others that are coming up next year and the years following that. I would like you to think about looking us all in the eye and telling every single one of us that for whatever reason, were not good enough for you.

Brent Nelson

Texarkana, Ark.