The Charleston School tax referendum, which passed last Tuesday night, is not at all surprising to me

The Charleston School tax referendum, which passed last Tuesday night, is not at all surprising to me. Its not hard to get money for schools around here by taxing people and putting a sad face on. Im more surprised that the NAACP and the Ministerial Alliance didnt do a better job in their campaign against the referendum. Shockingly, Charleston NAACP and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance both strongly opposed the new sales tax arguing that, the money would disproportionately benefit white, suburban schools. The referendum asked whether voters would pay an extra 1% tax (excluding groceries and medicines) to create a building program to help local schools. Both Charleston and North Charleston Mayors supported the idea which is not a surprise.

One thing for sure unlike a property tax, a sales tax allows everyone to participate in rebuilding Charleston County Schools. The alternative was a hike in property taxes. It will be interesting to see how the money raised from the tax is appropriated. Some opponents fear most that the estimated $450 million raised during the six years will be spent on Schools such as Wando High and not in ailing urban schools. Guess we will have to wait to see how this investment pays off.