Much Needed Budget Adjustment

 This letter (italicized for clarity) from Delia Leslie appeared in the Concord Monitor on 5/3. My comments in red.

Jim Peschke 

As a Croydon student, I think this new school budget is insane. It isn’t enough to provide a beneficial learning environment,

Newport Montessori and Mount Royal Academy might disagree.

keep a public school operating,

That is a reflection of public school inefficiency, not need.

or pay for other schools’ tuition. The school board has suggested “micro schools,” small groups of students monitored by a guide while taking courses online. The COVID-19 lockdowns and closings of schools in 2020 proved that this wouldn’t work well.

Invalid comparison. Microschools are on-site, in-person learning aided by the Internet. COVID lockdowns were remote learning. Big difference.

Most students just can’t learn like that,

Why not? If true, this should be addressed, as it is a failing of education.

and others who can, don’t enjoy it at all.

Going to school isn’t a particularly enjoyable experience for many students.

Part of being on the school board is making decisions in students’ best interests.

A bigger part is making decisions in the townspeople’s best interests.

Responsibility for the welfare of minors rests with their parents. Lower taxes empower parents to serve their children better.

This obviously doesn’t benefit students. The budget-cut and school closing would only benefit the Free State project’s goal of minimizing government.

The board had nothing to do with the decision to amend the budget. This is classic “shooting the messenger”. The board made many attempts to obtain public input on how to address the amended budget, but the angry mob would have none of it.

The board’s role is to make the best of the available budget. They did the best they could, with no help from people upset with the situation.

Decreasing education is a step in that direction.

This change does not “decrease” education. It only decreases the cost.

Students today will be running the country in a few decades; how can we be expected to do that if we’re uneducated and inexperienced?

The real leaders of tomorrow aren’t making excuses. They are busily building themselves up to become great people. They aren’t waiting for someone else to do it for them.

This issue affects everyone, so everyone should know about it. Education is one of the most valuable resources and should be provided for everyone in a way that helps students learn and understand. The school board needs to do what is best for students instead of focusing on personal gains.

In what way did the school board “focus on personal gains”? The board implored the public for input as to how to best operate, and was met with jeers, rude interruptions, and demands for targeted members to step down. What more could they have done?

Since they failed to do that, there is another town meeting.

No. There is another town meeting because some residents are unwilling to accept the legal and binding vote that occurred on March 12th. The board’s actions had nothing to do with the citizen petition for the do-over meeting.

Saturday, May 7th a meeting will be held at Camp Coniston at 9 a.m. If 283 Croydon citizens (50%t of registered voters) come and re-vote, this unrealistic budget could be changed.

Which is why people should skip the May 7th meeting and leave the amended budget intact.

“School is a twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know.” 
― John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling