In the 1970s, the Federal Way school district failed to pass ballot measures 22 times in a row before finally convincing patrons to pony up.

One of the things that got taxpayers off dead center was the appearance of the grounds of the schools. The district was strapped for money for everything, including maintenance. So, they just stopped mowing the school lawns.

This very visible deficiency in upkeep of the grounds must have had a growing effect on the public psyche

I think the school district now has a kind of marketing problem.

Over the last year, we attended meetings where Superintendent Tom Murphy outlined how the district planned to spend the $245 million booty they would collect from district patrons. In his measured and inspiring delivery, Supt. Murphy made his audiences feel good about opening their wallets for the good of future generations of students.

He and his staff worked hard in hiking around to various community groups with their polished story. But were they asking too much? Or just asking in the wrong way?

The $245 million figure is an enormous lump to swallow. Most people have no real frame of reference for such figures. And most of the great unwashed masses probably never really got to see the breezy presentations from the school district anyway.

It seems to me that the better way to get so much money from the people would be to let the people tell the story, neighbor to neighbor. Some of this happened. But in general, the district went about it the way they always have: they came down from the castle with the object of their desire on a velvet cloth and showed it around to the groundlings.