Having spent nine years on school committees in Massachusettes, I was impressed with the efforts of both sponsors and critics of school budgets. The Scarborough Town Council and School Committee and the Smart Taxes group exemplify those efforts in the time and effort they put into the complex task of hammering out their respective positions on the economy of the town and the schools in particular.

Unfortunately, the opposition offered a skewed view of the budget realities in that the projected tax increase is about 3 percent, which encompasses the 6.8 percent increase in school spending. Adjusted for inflation and contracted expenses, the school spending increase drops to about 3 percent.

That 3 percent buys us a lot. In fact, a quick run of the numbers finds that a $47 million school budget, broken down by 3,000 kids over 180 days, costs us about $80 a day, not factoring in expenses that run for 2½ months in the summer. Could we find a baby sitter for that money?

Then there is the matter of what we are spending that money on, coming out of one of the lowest tax rates in southern Maine at just over 16 percent.

As we go to the polls Tuesday, folks might keep in mind that our schools are at or near the bottom of regional spending on administration, transportation and facilities.

While all that is going on, we offer a first-rate state-of-the-art academic and special needs program, with 34 extracurricular activities. In 2016 we graduated 257 students, with 80 percent going on to some form of higher education – in many instances, to some of our more prestigious colleges and universities.

On Tuesday, let’s step up and support our kids and administrators. Vote “yes”!

Art DiMauro

Scarborough