To the editor:
My name is Gerald Morey Jr. and I am the administrative assistant to the Director of Special Services at RSU 29 in Houlton. I work in the background to provide the infrastructure for the educators and administrators to be able to function. I felt compelled to publicly support Stand Up For Students, Question 2.
As I see a broader and more confidential amount of information than most, I can see more of the devastating impact that is happening due to the state not meeting the 55 percent school funding level.
Schools are mandated to not only excellently educate our children, but to provide the mental, physical, and emotional health help to the best of their abilities. Having to provide needed Occupational, Physical, and Speech therapy is vital and expensive.
The surcharge of 3 percent on household incomes over $200,000 (example: a household earning $300,000 would pay $3,000 more) is asking the more well-off, in fact the top 2 percent of earners in Maine, to help the state’s children. I hope that is seen as preferable to giving up on our children and increasing the amount of people that won’t be able to participate in the economy, denying them the ability to support the next generation.
To me the choice is stark. Vote “Yes” on Question 2 or realize some children will be left behind. Our school budget is around 40 percent more than our town budget. This is not due to large amounts of fluff. Most of it is due to what is required by law.
Rural schools cannot exist without help from outside their towns. The only mechanism for that help to come in is from the government. Voting “Yes” on Question 2 provides the government the means to provide the schools with the ability to better educate and nurture all of our children.
