Before Deciding How Money is Spent, Change the Process by Changing the Board
To the Editor:
Of five candidates for three seats on the Board of Education, two challengers bring fiscal experience. The two incumbents represent the old Board, which has responded to community distress by dividing the same $130M in two: one part now, and one to be brought up next year.
In contrast, I say that the BoE has wasted years behind closed doors asking only itself, and not us, what our schools need and how much we can pay. While 80 percent of voters have no children in school, all of us support education. All of us pay for it.
Princeton’s proud diversity is disappearing. Fourth generation families are leaving homes whose taxes keep rising. To say that $130M will increase property taxes by “hundreds, not thousands” is to forget that, when it comes to maintaining diversity, every dollar counts.
Maintenance has been neglected, the enrollment projections are being widely attacked, as is the need for more office space. Better maintenance means a bigger operating budget, with yet more taxes.
Before we decide how money is spent, let’s change the process by changing the BoE. Let’s get the Board to represent the whole community.
Mary Clurman
Harris Road
Candidate for Princeton BoE