Lest home or private school parents think that the performance of the public schools is not their issue, consider the following.

From property taxes on $100,000 assessed valuation, $928.06 (65.82%) goes to the Little Rock School District. That means every $300,000 home is paying $2,784.18 annually in property taxes to the district.

From personal property taxes on $1,000 assessed valuation, $46.72 (65.82%) goes to the Little Rock School District. That means every $300,000 home is paying approximately $116 annually in personal property taxes to the district.

That’s $2,900.18 every year for a combined $142,699,808 from local sources. And that doesn’t include your contributions from the state’s sales and income taxes which total $115,221,936 annually. While we’re at it, don’t forget your federal income taxes, which provide $80,757,150 a year.

Even if your kids weren’t, aren’t or won’t be in the Little Rock School District, as a citizen, property owner and taxpayer, you have a responsibility to hold our elected officials accountable for their performance (or lack thereof) in the governance and results of the $340,000,000 public school district.

By the way, that equates to $13,600 per student, far higher than most any private school Pre-K through 12 tuition in the region. But in the case of the Little Rock School District, you don’t get what you pay for.