I can sympathize with both Gorham taxpayers as well as their public education school boards and employees attempting to salvage adequate resources from an already heavily taxed public. Too often, it’s a convenient target for balancing a municipal budget.
It could have been much different though. Our Founding Fathers never mentioned an educated populace in our Constitution. Much from Thomas Jefferson’s nagging, Congress finally addressed the situation in the early 1800s. They gave that duty, that “right,” to the states, expenses and all.
Smooth and spineless at the same time, states were crying for more power, and they got it. They’ve been sharing public education costs with municipalities and districts ever since. Currently, federal tax money pays for only 8% of all public education expenditures. And that’s only because national education-related program legislation (think: Title 9, etc.) must be funded with federal tax money. The USA spends the lowest percentage of its national budget on public education of any developed democracy.
The wealthiest, most powerful country kicks the education can not only down the road but also off the road. Is it any wonder why local and state taxes are so high and public schools struggling? Shame on us.
Stephen W. Musica Sr.
Harpswell
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