Say yes to booze, no to school tax, Part 2

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Alright, I promised to explain some of the politics behind next Tuesday's school SPLOST vote and, in response to the volume of questions raised by commenters to yesterday's post, I'll expand on my case against re-upping the sales tax.

Just today, at an unrelated press conference, Mayor Kasim Reed was asked more than once about his position on the Atlanta school SPLOST. He declined to answer. Now, I haven't talked to him about it lately, but from much earlier conversations, I know he hoped that penny in sales tax would go to the regional transportation tax that he had backed as a state senator.

But the politics are somewhat more complicated. If it were just Atlanta schools up for the tax renewal, I'd say it's a no-brainer: They had their seat at the table for 12 fraud-besmirched years; give someone else a chance. But, unfortunately, you can't vote against Atlanta without also voting against Fulton County schools. Similarly, you can't vote against the corruption-plagued DeKalb school system without also punishing the top-ranked Decatur city schools. Under what must be described as an outdated state law, school SPLOST votes are countywide only.

So, if you live in Alpharetta or College Park and your kid goes to Fulton County schools, I can't fault you for voting in favor of the SPLOST. In fact, even if everyone in Atlanta voted against the SPLOST and the rest of the county voted for it, the APS would still get the penny sales tax because a majority of Fulton residents live outside the Atlanta city limits. I realize this is an uphill battle.