PORTLAND (AP) – Portland High School senior Nat Dingley says teachers have done a good job informing students about the 1 percent property tax cap referendum and how schools might be affected if it passes.

But Teddy Burrage, a sophomore, says teachers have gone too far in advocating against the cap.

With Mainers poised to vote on the tax cap proposal, questions have been raised about how far teachers should go when discussing political issues. Some people say teachers have no business discussing an issue that they have such a strong opinion about.

Others say the tax cap is too important to be ignored.

“Teachers have made a lot of students aware of what’s happening,” said Dingley, 18. “They talk about it all the time. They are very adamant about voting down the tax cap.”

Burrage, 15, said teachers are presenting only one side of the debate.

“I think if they are gong to bring up a political issue in school, they should be showing both sides about it and be unbiased and not running around saying our schools are going to close and teachers are going to lose their jobs,” he said.

Voters will decide Tuesday whether to pass a statewide cap that would tax properties at no more than 1 percent of their assessed value.

Supporters say tax reform is vital and that people are being taxed out of their homes. Critics say a tax cap would devastate municipal and school budgets, causing layoffs and service cuts.

In Portland, city officials say a cap would cost the city $24 million in lost property tax revenues. School officials say 250 teachers could lose their jobs, and one of Portland’s two high schools would be shut down.

Tax cap proponents say the estimates don’t take into account other revenue options, such as fees and a local sales tax.

At a student anti-tax-cap rally in Portland on Thursday, young people held up signs asserting that Portland High School would be closed and students would attend double sessions at Deering High School. Two students at the rally were dressed in mascot uniforms borrowed from the high schools’ sports teams.

“Rams and Bulldogs United No on 1,” one sign read.

“I don’t want to go to Deering 12 to 6 p.m.” read another.

Phil Harriman of Tax Cap Yes! said he has received complaints from all over the state about teachers. In Bangor, for instance, teachers gave students anti-tax cap handouts, according to a complaint two residents filed with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

Harriman said teachers should not use any government resource – including their time on the job – to advocate for the outcome of election.

“The role of government influencing the outcome of elections strikes at the heart of free society,” he said. “Government should not be in the business of telling people how to vote.”

But others say the issue is not so simple.

Portland School Committee Chairman Jonathan Radtke said every teacher has the right to express an opinion if asked. He said teachers can discuss politics in the classroom if they present both sides and use the topic as way to encourage students to think critically.

“You have to give time to all sides. That’s your job, really, to lay it all out,” Radtke said. “The goal is to have students reach their own decision based on a critical examination of all the data.”

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