The children of Franklin are our town’s future citizens. They deserve the best educational opportunities. The children of Franklin are a joy to their parents and even the older population who no longer have school-age people in their own lives. We as senior citizens look back on the ways public schools have contributed in unique and important ways to our own personal development. As a group we urge a YES vote on the tax override, because our investment in education will pay dividends for decades.
Everyone knows from personal experience the profound impact that educational opportunities have had on their own lives. Everyone knows that the educational opportunities and social relationships offered by schools have a huge role in developing positive character traits and life competency skills. Everyone knows that providing for the needs of children is a financial commitment that extends beyond the individual household. Outside the family, children spend most of their waking hours in school.
For a multitude of reasons (many outside the control of our district) the Franklin Public Schools have been starved of funds for years. Again and again, our local school spending is discussed and shows to be dropping from 25th percentile, and now under 20th percentile when compared to all other towns in the Commonwealth.
Our heroic staff and teachers do excellent work with the funding they have, but could do so much more with adequate funding. Over the years, Franklin has reduced music, arts, and other activities, while class sizes have grown and fees to students have steadily increased. New technologies for teachers to master and cell phones in children’s hands present new challenges and opportunities that will require money to address.
Support for children with varying backgrounds, and the mental health needs of school age kids in a changing culture all require money. Modern day parents are facing challenges our generation never dealt with, and much of the responsibility to help these families falls to the public schools. We as seniors are committed to the value that it does indeed take a village to raise children.
We think back with gratitude on how schools have helped our children adapt to the challenges of life and learning-in ways that could not be accomplished by even the best parenting done in isolation.
The ability to collect public funds to adequately support public interests like the education of our children is critical to Franklin’s long-term health. The request for an ‘override’ of arbitrary tax limitations is consistent with information about the school funding that the town has made available for years. Furthermore, an override is consistent with current economic conditions such as inflation across industries. We should also acknowledge that Franklin’s real estate taxes are lower than most surrounding towns. While this may seem like a positive attribute, in reality it means we are allowing our town’s school system to decay. Franklin should not become a backward outlier in our region.
Many of us moved to Franklin for the high quality of our public educational system. Even though that specific time in our lives has passed, we understand and continue to support the belief that public education is the responsibility of citizens of all ages.
Signed by Seniors Supporting Vote YES for Franklin!
 |
| Signed by Seniors Supporting Vote YES for Franklin! |
Shared from this PDF doc -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N-tr4PcrzpK0Pu8lbv5WHWPqttm1hNDC/view?usp=drive_link
 |
| Voices of Franklin: A letter to Franklin’s 65+ community from your fellow seniors |
No comments:
Post a Comment