Why if you support schools, you should support the Mendes Budget
The Mendes Budget Supports Schools the Most
If you are concerned about the state of MNPS schools to which Nashville students will eventually return, there is only one clear choice when it comes to the metro budget. The substitute budget proposed by Council Member Bob Mendes is the only budget that will help ensure every student has a certified teacher in every class, as well as the paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and other support staff necessary to help them succeed. Mayor Cooper’s budget will mean more painful cuts to MNPS, because it will not account for rising costs from last year including the raise for MNPS employees he authorized in January. Fortunately Dr. Battle and our school board have dedicated themselves to preserving that raise in the coming school year to avoid pay cuts, but that means our schools will be forced to cut the money from somewhere else in the budget AGAIN, at a time when our students needs will arguably be the greatest in recent history. Cuts to MNPS are essentially cuts to support for 86,000 of Nashville’s children and their families. Funding for our schools could not be more important right now.
You can read more about the Mendes budget here.
How the Mendes Budget will Impact your Property Taxes
The good thing about using property taxes is that they are fundamentally equitable. Those with more expensive properties pay more than those with less. You can see this demonstrated in the helpful graphic from our good friends at SEIU Local 205 (representing most of our MNPS support staff).
However, that doesn’t mean we should ignore help for those who need it. We join with Stand Up Nashville to call for our city to creatively use state and federal relief funds for COVID-19 to help those who can’t afford the tax increase and small businesses.
Take Action
Metro Council is set to vote on the metro budget tonight. There are three possible outcomes from the meeting. One, metro council could vote to support the Mendes budget. Conversely, if they don’t have enough votes to pass the Mendes budget, the mayor’s budget could automatically go into effect. The final scenario is that council will delay the vote until the next council meeting. Please help us fight for the schools our students need. Click on the link below to send a letter to metro council.