Letters to the Editor: December 22 – 28, 2016
F.C. Leaders Have Outdated Approach to City Schools
Editor,
Regarding the proposed tax increase, there are numerous residents of this city who are on fixed incomes! We pay taxes also! This amount of increase would be catastrophic for us especially for an outdated system that inevitably will need replacing. A city’s officials should represent their citizens’ concerns with equal consideration regardless of their personal views. The difficulty increases when numerous citizens are not engaged because of work, personal issues or awareness of the significant hardships this increase will place on all citizens.
The results from last year’s survey showed that 62–65 percent of residents were weary of a school system that costs us more in taxes every year. The current survey shows that 84 percent disagree with the proposed three-years raise to continue supporting this outdated system! More significantly it costs our youth the exposure, experience, resources and challenges available in adjacent districts with a more diverse student body, options, resources and opportunities available in their programs. We should make paramount a program that embraces the 21st century’s challenges and opportunities of the local, national and global environments the students will encounter personally and professionally in their future lives. School systems across the country are facing the same issues and have taken positive steps by combining with neighboring districts to insure continued effective and timely development of their schools, communities and students.
We need to be proactive in an approach to place before city and school officials and other concerned citizens our desires and oppositions to the outdated approach our leaders seem to have regarding “our school!” I would welcome someone who has the experience, knowledge and spirit to organize the many of us who share these sentiments to guide us in this endeavor. Is there someone like that able and willing to lead? I assure you I will assist as my abilities allow.
John Boeddeker
Falls Church
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