EDITOR: Anyone who has attended the last couple of Morgan Hill
Unified School District board meetings or read the Morgan Hill
Times should be aware of the impending $3 million plus budget cuts
coming down the pipe – approximately half of this we can thank Gov.
Gray Davis for and the other half is due to declining student
enrollment (I imagine they are largely going to private
schools).
EDITOR:
Anyone who has attended the last couple of Morgan Hill Unified School District board meetings or read the Morgan Hill Times should be aware of the impending $3 million plus budget cuts coming down the pipe – approximately half of this we can thank Gov. Gray Davis for and the other half is due to declining student enrollment (I imagine they are largely going to private schools).
While this board has dealt with some thorny issues in the past, the budget cuts take the cake. I don’t envy them their task. Handing out “pink slips” to 111 teachers has to be a low point for this district. While not all of these will actually have to go, just the act is demoralizing. And this doesn’t even include “other” school staff such as librarians and counselors who will also get the ax.
I know the board wants to hold public forums to help decide where budget cuts should take place. I applaud their efforts to include the public. Perhaps now is the time to consider generating revenue through a parcel tax. A number of districts in Santa Clara County are already doing this. ( I might add a number of these districts are considering a senior exemption … with which I agree).
Those of us who really want the public education system to work would be happy to pay into it. Anyone who has property here, no matter where their children go to school, can see the benefit of a healthy public education system. I have to believe that property values are linked strongly to the public education the area can afford.
Will a parcel tax be an easy sell? No. But, I feel it’s worth the effort to keep our community vibrant and our children’s education at the top of the list.
Elaine Reimer, Morgan Hill
