Campaign Finance & Fiscal Responsibility

It has been pointed out to me that there is nothing wrong with raising money for a school board campaign: since Oregon allows a $100 tax credit for political contributions, it doesn't really cost the donors much, and is just "free money".

But where does this free money come from? In effect, it comes from state tax revenues. In this time when schools are reducing days due to lack of state money, is this really the best use for our dollars? I think if we are claiming we wish to be fiscally responsible, we should start by modeling that behavior.

It still seems to me that spending lavishly on a school board campaign is unnecessary and frivolous. In this kind of local election, I'm hoping that we can avoid the ridiculous level of advertising and spending we see in higher-level political campaigns, and use old-fashioned conversation to convince friends and neighbors of our ideas.