Dream the dream, then make it reality

Published 9:00 pm Monday, May 23, 2005

The Marysville area’s accelerated growth has left the district struggling to provide adequate classroom space to accommodate the explosive increase of school-aged children.

Had the recent bond measure passed, the cumbersome public-sector construction process would take as long as five years to fund and build new schools. The same projects could be accomplished in the private sector within a year for less money.

The 2001 Federal Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act might help the district address the current problems by allowing the transfer of financing, building and owning some of the district’s school construction to private-sector investors who could build and then lease facilities to the district.

Projects developed by public/private partnerships have been successfully completed in Canada, Great Britain and in other states utilizing talents and resources of private entrepreneurs. These partnerships offer the prospect of building less-expensive, higher-quality schools in less time than is currently possible through traditional public-sector management and funding.

Had the bond measure passed, the district would have attempted being both educator and real estate developer, with limited resources and without the specialized personnel needed to carry out a fast, cost-effective construction program – an archaic school construction process.

If current Washington state laws prohibit or restrict public/private partnerships, then parents and the Marysville School District could work together to change, modify or remove those laws.

More information regarding public/private partnerships can be found at The Heritage Foundation’s Web site (www.heritage.org/Research/Education/Schools/BG1257.cfm).

My teachers back in Illinois taught me that nothing is impossible – dream it and then start doing the work needed to make the dream a reality.

Maybe it’s time to start thinking outside the box.

MATT GORDON

Marysville