LETTER: Teacher, taxpayer says vote ‘yes’, then demand change

To the Community: 

I am a Harwood Union teacher and also a homeowner. I am writing to urge you all to vote for the revised school budget on April 30 – but that's only the first step. 

We need to do more than vote "yes" because we are in the midst of a crisis that will not go away until we go to Montpelier and maybe even Washington. 

As you noted in your April 15 article, the revised budget cuts three MORE staffers than the previous proposal (which had cut 13) and reduces some money for maintenance – a questionable move with an old, leaky building!  

And please remember that costs are not up only because of paltry cost-of-living raises. They are up because... costs are up! Healthcare – 16%, supplies – as much as 80%. Yet we are being asked to take it out on our students. 

Still, we should vote yes, but we also need to do much more. We need to demand change. 

This will only be the first of five years of cuts. Why? At least in part because we have a broken funding formula that puts all the burden on property owners in a state with a serious housing and affordability crisis. That needs to be addressed at a higher level. 

Also, property is only one form of wealth. Why does so much revenue have to come from there? 

Remember – every lost teacher or support person means a decline in the quality of a child's education. Today's students need more, not less, personalized education due in part to the challenges posed by the mental health crisis and what I'd call the device crisis. 

Why are we penalizing students?

Why aren't we all marching in Montpelier to demand a different funding formula?

And why not Washington? Why do so few federal dollars go to the future of our country – our youth?

Jane Regan

teacher, homeowner

Fayston