Dear Editor,
Yes, after reading this article about the future of Vermont’s community schools, it is clear that there is a dire need for some (many?) folks to get assistance so their children can focus on academic achievements, rather than fears about their food, shelter or clothing.
A community school coordinator can help provide these resources. But why is this even needed?
Maybe it has to do with Vermont’s policymakers who are determined to “improve our choices” or “be the national leaders” or “to protect us from (fill in the current fear)”? And with things so bad now, what will happen in the future?
For a simple example, I’ll use our state’s pending S.5, known as the Affordable Heat Act. (I could also easily use the rising costs associated with various insurance products, food prices, housing, taxes, etc.)
In Vermont, we need fuel to heat our homes (or we freeze to death) and drive our vehicles (or we cannot get to work). Most working families I know use some form of fossil fuel to heat their homes and to fuel their vehicles. But contrary to the belief of some, not everyone can afford a Tesla Powerwall and an electric vehicle.
So, where will the working folks get the money to pay the additional surcharges, fees and taxes S.5 will create? Of course, the money will have to come from their already stressed budgets to the detriment of the family, including their children. And afterward, these same legislators and education committee members will wring their hands and say: “Our children need help!” And the cycle will continue, as they search for more ways to fund a burgeoning systemic failure.
In my opinion, we need to address the root causes of our citizens’ problems (high taxes, exorbitant fees and regressive social policies), rather than focusing on the symptoms (no mattresses for their children’s beds or no lunch money) and applying a monetary bandage such as a community schools coordinator.
Otherwise, working families will exit our state in droves and all that will be left are the wealthy and the poor.
When the wealthy have no one to take care of their needs, they will leave, too. And then, with no one to fund these programs, will we even need community school coordinators?
Tom Kay
Londonderry
