letter to the editor

Dana Dow: A vote for our schools

Sat, 09/17/2016 - 7:45am

Dear Editor:

A few weeks ago the Register reported Sen. Chris Johnson as saying the Legislature pays 47 percent of all local K-12 school funding. This is misleading for our local districts. Last year the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor CSD got a state subsidy of $309,318, which is 3.36 percent of its $9,218,442 budget. This year the state subsidy is $617,000, about 6.52 percent of the $9,465,280 budget.

Neighboring Edgecomb's state subsidy is 9.56 percent of its budget this year. Last year it was 10.1 percent.

Other Maine school districts far away from us have received state subsidies covering 50 to 70 percent of their budgets. While we pay for our schools with local real estate taxes, the state subsidies come from income and sales taxes and other levies we also must pay. Where is the fairness? Where is the equality? Most of us have no problem with supporting our schools financially. Why must we also help pay for other schools far way?

Sen. Johnson should tell us why he sides with the group in Augusta which favors the highly unfair system rather than stand up for the taxpayers and schools in the district he represents.

Dana Dow, by contrast, has extensive experience in education having spent many years as a classroom teacher and he's a true Mainer. Both attributes become quite apparent when you have a conversation with him

A vote for Dow in November is a vote for our schools.

Palmer Payne

Boothbay Harbor