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December 16, 2004 To the Editor As members of the SPOT (Schools are a Priority in Our Town) Organizing Committee, we commend the members of Arlington's Board of Selectmen and School Committee for taking the initial step of looking at how we develop our budget at their joint meeting last week. In particular, we appreciate and thank the School Committee for having the vision to pursue the difficult task of changing how we as a town determine our budgets. The notion of determining a clear definition of services to be provided, or "service levels" needed, so that citizens know what they will be getting for their tax dollars might seem revolutionary to some but to us makes perfect sense. SPOT has been advocating for just this sort of prioritization of programs within the Arlington Public Schools and for a transparent budget process. Before responsibly looking at what we have in terms of revenue we should be looking at what we need to provide necessary services. Then we can, as a community, make the difficult decisions that are ahead of us, especially since we know that as a town we will be living with a structural deficit of $2.5 to $3 million dollars per year. As was noted at the meeting, this is our problem - we will not be bailed out by the state or federal governments. We hope that the elected leaders of the Town of Arlington will work together to think "outside the box" during these very difficult financial times. For the SPOT Organizing Committee, Colleen Kirby Cho Sharon Grossman Debra Kaden Marvin Lewiton Judith Paradis Marlene Rockmore Jan Stetson Mona Zeftel |
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