It’s disturbing that so many of our state legislators are eager to defund our public schools. Their latest scheme is HB1393. This education busting bill will allow arbitrary per pupil “caps” to be voted in at town meetings. These caps do not need to have any connection to the actual cost of educating the students who live in town. Because of federal special education “maintenance of effort” regulations, districts who have their per pupil funding slashed may have no choice but to prioritize the preservation of special education programs over all other programs. Sadly, this may lead to bad feelings between families who have children with special needs and families who don’t.

Ironically, it seems that the very people who were appalled when our schools shut down during the pandemic are the same people who are now willing to shut down our schools by starving them of funds. Those responsible for pushing bills like this should take a moment to reflect on the fact that freedom isn’t free and investing in an adequate education for our children is a fiscal responsibility that needs to be taken seriously by all who wish to live in a democratic society. We should defend not defund our public schools.