If our last school board election taught us one thing — on either side of the political spectrum — there are myriad problems within Mesa County School District 51.

While it’s obvious each side has its peculiar sets of concerns and won’t agree how things should be done to alleviate and eliminate (politically) those problems, I hope we can all agree the board doesn’t need to go looking for, or creating more, problems for the district. 

Yet, here we are. 

 It’s no secret I supported the three candidates who were recently elected to the board of education. It’s also no secret board members were presented with myriad concerns just in addressing the direction promised in their campaigns — beginning day one of their service. And it’s become public knowledge from meeting attendance there are those who support the new direction of the board and those who don’t when it comes to educational, operational and personnel decisions. 

This could be a column lamenting or attacking those in opposition to the new board’s actions. It would be a  fish-in-a-barrel type of festivity, especially since I’ve railed on these same folks in every walk of life outside of education. Yet today, I find myself on the opposing side of the board given a few recent announcements. 

First up is D51’s continued expansion into health care. Regardless of your feelings on the successes or concerns about the clinic Marillac runs inside Central High School, one thing must come to the forefront: Medical decisions involving minors should be up to their parents, period. I realize we have too many kids with little to no parental involvement and they need a safety net for things that happen in their lives medically. You’d be surprised to know I believe a government-private solution should be desirable for them. But with all things government, it should be limited in government involvement. 

Let’s be honest. Government has and always will continue to make a disaster of our health care system. There’s no reason to believe it would fare much better in a school setting — in spite of some successes noted in the last board meeting. I have to believe there are just as many, if not more, concerns about the clinic at Central. But no one’s running a public relations campaign for more clinics by putting those into the public realm. And when kids are making decisions outside of parent’s purview — medical or otherwise — those problem areas always exist. 

We have a great organization in the Marillac Clinic, one I support wholeheartedly. And I applaud its efforts in clinics designed to help those most in need. But schools aren’t the proper place to do this.  

It’s high time to remove non-profit and not-for-profit statuses across the health care industry. For you tax happy folks, there’s TRILLIONS of dollars to tax in that arena. For you tax writeoff folks, it offers a better solution. Let any medical professional or entity write off every penny it donates to voluntary clinics — and in its facilities — that help those in need or who the government requires they treat. Just think of the tax savings for medical professionals who volunteer once a month at a clinic. Think of the tax savings for a large entity if it could write off everything from surgeries to medications to Band-Aids. Think you might see a clinic or two pop up? Think these folks couldn’t find a way to basically have a zero tax bill through this system? Think this won’t get government out of health care? 

Here’s another arena D51 is looking into which the government has destroyed: real estate. Yup. As if rent control, public housing, mortgages, property taxes and just about everything that goes into “owning” a home doesn’t have a long history of government screwing up at every level, District 51 is looking at ways to benefit folks in education with special pricing for homes, limited increases in home values to keep them affordable and other incentives and subsidies to attract the best teachers for our kids. 

I don’t know about you, but my best customers aren’t the ones looking for a deal, but rather the best value. Sometimes that value is in the product, not the money spent. In this case, D51 is a victim of both. Its product isn’t great and it (admittedly) underpays its staff — unless you’re in a certain building or have a special position. 

You don’t need a Harvard degree to understand since time immemorial teachers have been underappreciated and underpaid. I say this as someone who grew up in a home with two teachers — one who served on a board of education. Like the warning on a pack of cigarettes saying they’re bad for you, salary levels are a known warning for those who teach. Wouldn’t the simple solution be finding a way to pay them more? The district could begin by cutting the cost of the new high school and eliminating clinics — and perhaps even a few administrative positions. 

Like all too many we elect, making one’s mark by taking one’s mission into realms outside its focus takes over. Thus far, the D51 board seems no exception. 

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com.