In June 2006, citizens of Wales voted to reduce funding to the Wales Central School by $200,000. It left the school system in a very tough position, one which has yet to be completely resolved. The school was faced with cutting multiple programs, teachers, and busing for the town’s high school students.

For many of the citizens who voted for the reduction, it was a matter of survival. In a town that pays some of the highest per-capita taxes in the state, homeowners could see an average increase of $600-$700 per year. A lot of these folks are on the edge as it is.

To the town’s credit, citizens from both sides of the issue came together and hammered out a plan to fund the schools and keep taxes to a dull roar. The compromise would have impossible without the support of our state representative, Nancy Smith. Along with a group from the town of Wales, she hounded Gov. John Baldacci’s office and her own party, resulting in funds being released to help fill the gap.

The bigger picture: budgets have to be reined in, and the governor’s school funding formula has to be adjusted to be more equitable to schools with less than 3,000 students. While residents from Wales and other rural communities are left to beg in Augusta, school systems in cities with far greater resources are overfunded.

Robert Giroux, Wales