Dear Editor:

I have lived in Edgecomb since Sept. 1, 2015, the day my son started kindergarten at Edgecomb Eddy. I am a single mom, and that gives me an important perspective on the value of a small local school. It also means I am aware of the challenges of a limited personal budget and an increasing tax bill. I have been a teacher for much of my life, and believe that public education plays an essential role in a democratic society. I thought this inside knowledge of education would be all I needed when I was first elected to the Edgecomb School Board in May of 2017. I was wrong.

In the nine years I have served on this and the AOS 98 Board, I have learned that the primary obligation of a school board is to follow the law, whether it is contracts, policy, or special education. This can be supremely frustrating when the law creates challenges for our community, and no topic is more locally divisive than money. Local taxes assume high property value means high ability to pay, and when more than half of these funds go to schools, this creates conflict. In Edgecomb, while the school is not more expensive than most surrounding towns, the taxes are higher because of such state policies.

It was realizations like this that drove me to seek a deeper understanding of public policy, and I am currently a doctoral candidate at USM, seeking a PhD in Public Policy and Educational Leadership. It was my desire to help residents understand these systems that inspired me to start youtube.com/@HeatherM.Sinclair. It was this understanding of school funding that drove me to testify in front of the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs in Augusta earlier this spring, with the goal of reducing the burden of educationally driven taxes on those in our community whose income cannot keep up with property values driven by summer homes and waterfront property. This is the type of leadership I would be honored to offer for three more years.

Heather Sinclair

EES Board Chair

AOS98 Board Chair