Vote in the Albuquerque Public Schools Election

Although often overlooked, it is worth noting that early voting is now underway (here are the locations) for the Albuquerque Public Schools school board and the related bond measure request  of $368 million. Even if you don’t have a contested race in your area (district maps can be found here), it is worth going to the polls on the bond issues. Of course, if you do have a candidate in your district, it is important to find out as much as possible about their views on issues including their views on charter schools and educational philosophy.

If you don’t make it out for early voting, the actual election is Feb. 5. Here is a list of Election Day voting centers. 

And, while APS officials will repeatedly state that your taxes will not go up if their bond measure is approved, your property taxes would drop if it were defeated. This school district recently went with HIGHEST bidder on a major school construction project.

Lastly, in the Wall Street Journal, Texas comptroller made an excellent point when she wrote: “Most people don’t have the first idea of how new proposed debt fits into the total debt being carried by their local governments. Every ballot in an election for new bonded indebtedness should state, at minimum, the current amount of outstanding debt and and annual debt-service payments, and show how the proposed debt will affect the tally.”