Amherst Voices

Charlie Moran
My family and I have lived in Amherst and Pelham since 1967. Our two children went to the Amherst schools K-12, 26 pupil-years of first-class education. We have *still* not repaid the Town for their education, let alone the good roads, fire protection, ambulance service, conservation land, low-cost housing, and all of the benefits that accrue from living in Amherst. So YES to an over-ride. Sure, our property taxes are high, but we still owe Amherst, owe this wonderful community, our support in these tough times.

Kate Atkinson (aka Dr. Kate)
Amherst schools have had an amazingly positive impact, both in the lives of our 4 children but also to many of the kids in my practice. i have seen many children pver the years who were getting into trouble or losing academic focus become vitalized due to the music, dance, sports and afterschool programs that the amherst schools offer. because of these great programs we have launched many kids to top colleges, exciting careers and putting positive energy back into our town. we dont want to be like ware or palmer. we have to keep the schools vital so our community can stay vital!

Kevin Collins (Red Barn Music)
Towns across the country are facing shortfalls and Amherst is no exception. Over the last ten years health care costs have exceeded Proposition 2 1/2 and it caught up with us. We believe the responsible course is to restructure our town to last for the next 250 years, to preserve what is good, to protect our investment in our people, and to grow through the next three years, together.

Whether you have children in the schools or grandchildren, they are our future. Amherst has a truly unique school system, with 65 home languages represented, 35 at any one time, and faces special challenges found nowhere else. Amherst is very fortunate to have a new Superintendent, Dr. Alberto Rodriguez, who understands what is needed to get our schools firing on all cylinders and who will offer us the best options to choose from. He deserves your support. As do our teachers, as they face a triple-whammy — a school closing, redistricting, and teacher layoffs, all in the same year.

And Amherst Town Hall faces a unique set of challenges maintaining our quality of life, things we take for granted. The challenge facing today is to provide basic public safety and services while continuing to grow. Because the only way we will survive is to grow. We have a great team working for us in Town Manager Larry Shaffer and all our our dedicated employees. Please support them, too, as we work together to grow Amherst.

We hope that you will become involved and lend a hand. It took us years to get here and we have only weeks to solve it. 

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Randa Nachbar
Although next year I will no longer have children in the Amherst Public Schools, I still support an override. Future Amherst children deserve the quality education that my children experienced.

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Emily Goldstein (ARHS Senior)
As a senior at Amherst Regional High School it is upsetting to know that the school I have been attending for the past four years will be changed indefinitely starting next year. The budget cuts will devastate the high school.

Amherst schools have had the reputation of being some of the best public schools in western Massachusetts; it's partly the reason why my family moved here.

However, because of the lack of support in our community, and the harsh effects of the current economic climate, I fear that our school is in a downward spiral.

As I walk the halls I look at the underclassmen and think of all the wonderful electives that I have taken, classes that they will never know. I have to question how a town can let its school slowly turn into something mediocre.

I look around at my class mates who will attend some of the country's most prestigious schools next year, and I shudder to think that the opportunities that have been available, allowing us to achieve excellence, will no longer exist. If the town lets that happen, then the school will no longer be a source of pride, but instead, will become, something ordinary.

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Marcy Sala
I consider myself to be a taxpayer for responsible change. Not the kind who waves signs saying, “No More Overrides”, because frankly, I don’t consider that the least bit responsible. How can we ever say never to employing a provision written into  Proposition 2 ½ legislation that’s precisely intended to give taxpayers power and choice over the tax funded priorities in their community?

I’m more the kind of taxpayer who was a supporter of the charter initiative a few years back; the kind who thought that we could benefit as a community from a more centralized approach to fiscal management and governance; the kind who when the charter failed, decided with my lone write-in vote to join Town Meeting in order to work within the system we had to try to effect the kinds of changes and efficiencies I thought were needed.

I’m the kind of taxpayer who, as a Town Meeting member, supported along with a growing majority of like minded citizens, sensible zoning initiatives intended to lay the groundwork for expanded economic development and revenue opportunities; the kind that participated in painful cutting of well loved fixtures, amenities and services in town that were nice, but when viewed from a larger economic perspective, not really necessary; the kind who voted in favor of sparser budgets than we were used to and against amendments seeking to spend dollars that we really didn’t have; the kind that witnessed a tremendous amount of hard work and careful stewardship of both our community and our dollars by dedicated members of our town boards, committees and staff; the kind that watched as millions of dollars shrunk from both our budget and reserve account, marveling at our professional staff’s ability to reorganize and put efficiencies in place that enabled us to weather it; the kind that found myself wondering at last spring’s session, how much further we could go down this road before the Amherst we knew became less recognizable; the kind who is moved now to ask all of us as taxpayers to consider, at what point does giving way to change become irresponsible?

We need to find balance between the Amherst we can afford and the Amherst we want to be. Belts have been tightened and priorities honed. This override proposal, to me, is the next part of the balancing act that we need. So here’s one taxpayer for responsible change who will be voting Yes! For Amherst. I hope you’ll join me.

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Scott Auerbach
There are some things we cannot control, and others that we can. Loss of quality in our schools affects EVERYBODY regardless of whether one has kids in school or not. Keeping our schools strong is what separates strong communities from those going down the tubes. Let's be one of the communities not going down the tubes. Let's invest a bit more of our hard earned money in our schools, keeping our home values relatively high. Let's do this now.

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Maureen Perry-Jenkins
I am writing this letter for two reasons: first to express my appreciation for the outstanding education my two oldest sons received in the Amherst school system, and second, to voice my deep concerns about the proposed budget cuts that will directly impact my daughter's educational experience, and that of all children in the Amherst school district, over the coming years.

When we moved to Amherst in 1995, one of the greatest draws to this community was the exceptional educational system. We have not been disappointed. My sons had the opportunity to take electives such as business law, a literature class on the Holocaust, and advanced placement classes in almost every subject. One of my sons had the opportunity to take an additional math class at Amherst College, an experience that clearly gave him an advantage in applying to college. Both of my sons were accepted to their first-choice colleges and there is no doubt in my mind that Amherst Regional High School prepared them to compete with the top students in the country. The innovation and high caliber of education at Amherst Regional High School is what has given it such an outstanding reputation.

I realize our community is facing extremely challenging budget decisions that are likely to extend over the next few years. Unfortunately, cuts in education funding are usually not immediately apparent; it takes years for the long term effects of poor educational decisions to play out in the lives of children. It is clear that Amherst has had a long tradition of supporting education, and it is a tradition that we must maintain. It is my belief that every child has a fundamental right to a high quality education; it is this right that opens up our minds, our opportunities and our futures. Long after my children move on from the Amherst schools, I will continue to support our schools: It is one place where we can not only begin to level the playing field for all children but also provide the best possible foundation for all children's development.

As a parent, I have watched how the continual cuts in our school budget over the years have slowly but surely begun to undermine all that makes Amherst distinct. Class sizes have increased, course options have shrunk, there are fewer electives and more study halls, fewer clubs and more overworked teachers. All the creative budgeting in the world cannot solve this problem. We will soon be making a decision about an override in Amherst and I am asking everyone to support it. If we are keeping our eyes on the future, it rests in the future of our children. Investing in our children's education makes sense. In fact, it is probably the very wisest investment any of us can make.

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Elaine Brighty (Former School Committee Chair)
2010 is the year Amherst voters need to support an override for Amherst.

I recently served for three terms on the Amherst and Regional school committees and on Town Meeting, and I have seen the substantial losses in the quality and capabilities of our schools, public safety, town services and libraries during the last three years of major budget cuts.

For nine years, state budget cuts (and state and federal income tax cuts) have meant less and less of the revenue that funds our town's budget has come from the state. We can only look to our own town for help now. All funds from increased local property tax stay here in Amherst to provide essential services and education to ourselves and our neighbors.

Stanley Gawle's recent column used several pieces of limited data, including town salaries and student costs, to caution against the upcoming override vote. Accountability and clear information are crucial, but all data have to be examined in their full context. Our employee compensation is comparable to that of other communities. It has risen at an average annual rate of 1.9 percent in the schools and 2.9 percent in the town between 2002 and 2010, an amount at or slightly below inflation. As responsible employers, we do need to assure that our employees earn reasonable salaries.

Comparing the cost to educate students in different towns and cities is more difficult than it should be. Accurate comparisons require analyzing entire town budgets, not just the cost per student derived from the school budget total (as listed on the state Department of Education web site). In many other towns, the costs of retirement, health insurance and other benefits for the school employees is listed in the town government budget rather than the school budget. Similarly in some towns, schools' costs associated with human resources, finance departments and various physical plant aspects are included in the town government budget.

It is now time to pass an override. Postponing an override vote to 2011 will only mean more cuts and more programs lost that will never be recovered.

Voters must decide this year what Amherst is and what kind of Amherst we will support. Amherst cannot afford to continue cutting the town's essential services or the quality of the education.

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