Support SAD 17 budget

In a time of global economic crisis, when costs for everything seem to be rising, people are out of work and family budgets are stretched to the breaking point, the prospect of paying more for our schools is daunting.

But this is exactly what is being asked of us in the proposed SAD 17 budget – a 6 percent increase in local taxes to keep our schools running.

However, the question we need to ask is: Are we prepared to face the cuts that will occur if the budget doesn’t pass?

The SAD 17 administration’s mantra is "we do more with less," and it holds true.

Take this into account: out of the 25 largest school systems in the state, SAD 17 ranks at the bottom in terms of spending – the district’s per-pupil spending is more than 17 percent lower than the state average.

Yet SAD 17 still provides a higher level of education than some districts that spend more.

The budget has been sliced to the bone. There is nowhere for the district to cut and still provide the caliber of services we expect from our schools.

We are being put in an impossible position; the state is no longer able or willing to pick up its share of the tab, and federal money that has cushioned the blow for the last three years has dried up.

This year’s tax increase is only the beginning. Under state regulations, local taxes will have to go up 9 percent in 2014 and another 9 percent the year after, just to keep what we have.

The unfortunate truth is that our communities cannot afford an increase of this magnitude.

What needs to happen now is a concerted effort to pass a law that allows us to spend less on our schools than the state requires.

Without this law, we may lose state funding and we will certainly lose teachers and programs.

Tell your selectmen that you support schools.

Call or write your state representatives and tell them that state requirements are unsustainable.

Talk to fellow parents and let them know what is going on.

Above all, on June 12 vote to pass this budget.