Please support the Waterville school budget as an investment in the future.

There are few things more important to the health and well-being of Waterville now and into the future than its educational system. I am now officially a senior citizen and resident of Ward 2 in Waterville, and I am willing to pay extra property taxes as my share in Waterville’s future. I have a child in the sixth grade in Waterville and feel the system has done very well by her. I do not believe that Waterville’s children and its future should be punished by a short-sighted state Legislature and governor who are unwilling to meet their legal commitment to revenue sharing.

Let me pose a few questions for those interested in finding ways to cut the school budget:

1. Do you realize that the Waterville school budget has decreased by 7 percent in the last 10 years when adjusted for inflation?

2. Do you realize that administration costs in Waterville are less than 10 percent of the entire budget?

3. Do you understand that our problem is not the school budget but the fact that revenue sharing, legally required by law, has been cut to shreds by the last few sessions of the Legislature? Want to do something about your rising property taxes — talk to the governor and your legislators.

4. Do you realize that Waterville spends the least on administration in all of Maine?

5. Do you want to threaten the future of all the children in Waterville who access public education by reducing the number of teachers they have, and by sending them the message that their lives are on the chopping block when it comes to money?

Residents of Waterville should not be pennywise and pound foolish. They should support the AOS 92 budget as requested and work on getting revenue sharing restored to its legal percentage.

Emanuel Pariser

Waterville