Those of you who have always voted in favor of bonds, whose kids are receiving or received a great education, and are planning to vote no, consider the needs of teachers and kids now and in the future, not the needs of decades ago. Simply said, our buildings are crumbling; what was necessary 60 years ago is not in any way similar to the needs of today in terms of technology, spaces, after school programs, safety standards and health regulations. What argument can we make for prospective families when all we will do is create a new wing to MacDonald Middle School, make minor repairs to our schools and probably close two more schools? How can realtors promote East Lansing with those facts to work with? Residents from neighboring school districts are dumbfounded when they hear that taxes won’t be raised, having seen the positive results of investing in their schools.

To put it into perspective, our buildings have been witness to the birth of the baby boomer generation all the way to the election of Barack Obama. How many more decades will our buildings have to endure until we fix them? Think about our kids taking music classes in the gym, no science labs, no Wi-Fi readiness in the schools — unless you are in the hallway — no ability to heat up food and instead having to transport it in a bus and no room to store personal or class materials. The one that kills me is the air quality of Whitehills Elementary described as “not good,” thanks to the lack of energy-efficient and greener equipment.