This is in response to a recent story in the Sun Journal concerning the proposed Sabattus school budget.

Being parents of two children and a daughter-in-law who are school teachers, we know firsthand how dedicated and hard-working school teachers are.

In the story, a Mr. Bill Larkin of Sabattus stated that it was too costly for seniors to pay higher taxes to cover the expense of education.

We all understand that senior citizens have a difficult time making ends meet when trying to survive on a fixed income. But the education of young people is not a luxury; it is a vital necessity.

Seniors should be helped, but never at the expense of the children’s education.

A simple solution to the problem would be for the federal government to shift priorities so that senior citizens could live a dignified life (i.e., help pay for prescription drugs, increase Social Security payments for low income folks, and so on). If the government would cut waste and unnecessary spending – billions in aid to foreign countries, more to Iraq – then the elderly could be better provided for and the children could receive the best possible education.

Nothing could be more important.

Mike and Lee Grover, Greene

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