Asks parents to make the case for education budget

To the Editor:

As a parent of a child attending New Milford schools and a homeowner here in New Milford, I have an interest both in maintaining quality education, and keeping our taxes as low as possible.

I have been underemployed since the early days of the recession in September, 2008.

We've made deep sacrifices in our household, and I understand all too well that reductions must be made with regard to our school budget in order to keep property taxes reasonable in this climate.

Last month, the mayor recommended an $800,000 reduction in the school budget proposed by the Board of Education. Steep, but workable.

The Town Council came back last week with a recommendation of a million-dollar cut over and above the mayor's figure.

I understand the Town Council wishes to see the school budget remain basically the same as last year, but they are not taking inflation into proper consideration.

According to the Superintendent of Schools, allowing for the same expenses as last year, the current budget would have been 5.64 percent higher due to inflation.

Instead, the Board of Ed's proposed budget represented an increase of only 3.1 percent, which indicates that more than $1,422,000 dollars has already been cut.

Now the Town Council expects this community to find $1.8 million more in reductions? That's simply not reasonable.

I firmly believe we as a community value our quality schools, and we are willing to pay for maintaining an excellent standard of education here in New Milford.

We're all making sacrifices these days, and our children are the reason -- the ones we're protecting, not the ones who should feel the brunt.

The New Milford Board of Finance needs to hear from parents and concerned residents that the mayor's initially-proposed $800K reduction is enough. An additional $1 million is absolutely unacceptable.

Parents need to e-mail the Board of Finance and ask to restore $1 million dollars from the school budget cut; then, listen for the Board of Finance public hearing date, and please, show up and voice your concerns, or at least let them see how many of us do care.

Lisa Alexander

New Milford