Assistance from Referendum is Necessary To Ensure That Schools Remain Outstanding
To the Editor:
Among our four families, we currently have nine kids (and one teacher!) in the first-rate Princeton public school system. Three of our children were lucky enough to be involved in the very first year of Community Park’s tremendous dual language program. We’ve got kids in the high school, the middle school, and the elementary school. Some of us grew up in this town and went to school here ourselves. We have all watched our children enter the Princeton school system during kindergarten and thrive in our schools in the many years since. We have seen the town change, the community change, and the schools change over the years. We are writing to ask for your support for the incredibly important upcoming school referendum.
At every point in our time as members of the Princeton community, we have seen significant pushback in any sizeable investment in our schools, even as we are all well-aware that a desirable school system draws professional families to the community and preserves our skyrocketing property values. We are nickel-and-diming our investment in our community’s children. Why? We are here for these schools — and the wonderful community that exists here. For those of us who don’t have children in the system, or whose children have aged out — this is still our community. These are our kids — yours, your neighbors’, your friends’, your family’s. We love this town— in no small part because we love our schools.
It should come as no surprise that more and more families are moving here for those very same reasons — excellent schools and a fantastic community. The number of children who will be walking through the doors of our schools over the coming years is growing. Our investment in our schools is not keeping pace with our growth. This upcoming referendum will be doing the bare minimum to make some imperative changes to our buildings to sustain our current population, let alone the number of kids from the families soon to arrive. The only complaint we have about the referendum is that it isn’t ambitious enough — our schools need so much more investment to maintain their excellence.
Our wonderful schools, and the amazing teachers and staff who make our schools so top-notch, deserve our respect and our help. The financial assistance we are voting for in January’s referendum is absolutely necessary to ensure our schools remain outstanding for years to come.
We hope you will consider not just your own family’s needs, but those of all the families you know around you when you show up to vote on January 28. Princeton’s community needs your support — and our kids need you!