Submitted by Anne Wichman, Retired Greenwich Public School teacher, Riverside
Our schools are the best resources that our town has to offer, but they have been subject to physical neglect due to underfunding for far too long. It is hard to accept that, in a town like Greenwich, a school was condemned because of structural issues. In another school, teachers had to carry children with physical disabilities up and down staircases because of a lack of ADA compliance. These are only two of so many major issues. Yes, they are being addressed, but after far too many years.
I put the blame squarely on the leadership of the BET. Yes, there are six Republicans and six Democrats on this body, but the party receiving the most votes gets the tie-breaking vote. As a result, the BET has had Republican leadership for many years. The cutting of over four million dollars from this year’s education budget is the latest, and probably most heinous, example of underfunding by the BET Republicans.
I plan to vote for all six superbly qualified Democratic BET candidates in the November 4 municipal election. It is time to put BET leadership in the hands of Democrats, who will support the funding that will provide our schools with needed resources. We owe it to our children.
Anne Wichman
Retired Greenwich Public School teacher