Referendum alert in Madison

Apparently the problems with Madison schools are so bad that local officials there cannot be trusted to put the correct wording on the ballots for the school property tax increase referendum on Tuesday. The total number of incorrect ballots is over 80,000. Election officials hope to have correct ballots by Tuesday (estimated cost $30,000) but the absentee ballots have already been mailed with the incorrect wording.

Blogger Random 10 (who brings this to our attention) asks if its too late for Jimmy Carter to come monitor the election. Random 10 and other referendum opponents smell a rat. From NBC Channel 15 in Madison:

"At the eleventh hour at almost quitting time on Friday, the weekend before the election, it is just another example. I know people who when they heard this, the very first thought was they set it up, they set up an out," says [Kirby]Brant.

Meanwhile, over at the Wisconsin State Journal, Sandy Cullen goes out of her way to demonstrate the need for Madison Schools to improve:

Imagine the floor space of Chicago's Sears Tower divided into 46 schools and two administration buildings and you'll have a sense of how much property the Madison School District maintains.

But with a lot more roofs.

Okay, Sandy, let's play remedial math, story problems. If you have 46 schools and two administration buildings, how many roofs do you have? If you answer more than 48, you may be explaining the Madison School System's budget problem.

Wait, wait, I got another one. If you shake down taxpayers for every last cent they have, and then you ask them for more, which way should they vote on the referendum?