As a mother of twin girls who are three years old and on the waiting list to enter the East Wareham preschool in the fall, I can’t help but think about their future education.

I have always believed that all children deserve to get a quality education from their public school system, but I also have learned that families and the community play a major role in making that possible. If the residents of Wareham don’t work together as a community and learn to make reasonable and oftentimes necessary compromises to the school budget in the way of approving an override to increase tax revenue for Wareham schools, or supporting a new proposal brought forth by teachers, administrators, students or the School Committee, then the education of the students of Wareham will be compromised. Students' education will be compromised not because of a lack of talented teachers or supportive staff, but because of low funding, town revenue limitations, and most importantly, not enough or little support from local taxpayers.

Adding to the problem of quality education in Wareham is the issue of the rising costs of healthcare. After speaking with the superintendent of Wareham Public Schools, I learned that the cost of healthcare is taking a large chunk out of the town’s budget. Dr. Barry Rabinovich explained that the cost of healthcare has risen annually by approximately 10% since some time in the 1990s. Furthermore, because the revenue of the town can only go up by 2.5% each year, this greatly affects the entire town’s budget as well as the School Department. This has led to many of the problems the town and School Department are currently facing.

The idea of an entire town investing in public schools is not new. In the late 19^th century, Horace Mann, the first appointed Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, campaigned this idea that investing in common schools would be beneficial to all members of society.  According to historian Joel Spring in his book, The American School:  A Global Context from the Puritans to the Obama Era:

Mann used arguments about education as capital investment to justify public          financial support of the common school.  One of the questions asked during the       period was why those without children or those who sent their children to private   schools, should pay for the education of other people’s children.  Mann’s answer   was that the value of property is dependent on the work of previous generations and on the general level of prosperity of the community. He argued that property is held in trust by each generation, which through its labors increases its value.  In other words, even a family without any children benefits from common schooling             because common schooling increases the wealth of the entire community, which    in turn increases the value of the family’s property. Therefore, all members of society benefit economically from common schooling, whether or not they make any direct use of the schools.

This sentiment has been the argument since the late 19^th century and the debate is still alive and well today, and understandably so, especially since the downturn of our economy that occurred abruptly after the housing crisis.

We are all going through tough times together, and some more so than others. Wareham Public Schools is experiencing its own budget crisis and the only way to resolve this crisis is through cooperation between town officials and the taxpayers of Wareham. With that said, the elected town officials of Wareham played their part by adding a vote to the ballot last summer for an operational override and debt exclusion measures, each of which were defeated.  “On July 25^th, 2012 a small portion of Wareham’s eligible voters (2,394 of 14,446, or approximately 17%) defeated the operational budget override and debt exclusion measures by large quantities ranging from 59 to 70% against” (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2012).

Herein lies a major problem for the town of Wareham. Ask yourself… did I vote last summer, and do I have children in the public school system? Do I care about my child’s education and the services they receive at school? Am I a concerned and involved parent or caregiver?

Maybe you don’t have children and don’t feel you should have to pay higher taxes to better the schools in Wareham. Maybe your children already graduated from high school and you feel like the school budget issues don’t apply to your life anymore. Maybe you are elderly and the thought of taxes being raised is worrisome.

The fact that so few Wareham residents made it out to vote last summer is a problem in and of itself.  If a higher percentage of people came out to vote, then we could get a better sense if Wareham really does value education. Not voting is a missed opportunity for change and progress. There are reasons, however, why Wareham residents are not willing to support Wareham schools.

One major concern for many Wareham citizens is the claim that the town is and has been mismanaging funds for a long time. This attitude and feeling of distrust many residents feel contributes to the many problems for the town and the schools.  After reading blog posts on WarehamVillageSoup.com from last summer in response to the override debt exclusion measures that were added to the ballot, it is clear that many residents believe that town officials and the superintendent have mishandled finances. They argue that the town has a spending problem and not a revenue problem, some of which is due to purchasing land and buildings.

There are complaints that teachers are always getting laid off while some administrators/upper management and instructional leaders get to keep their jobs and get pay raises. Then there are those who supported the override, but did not like the idea that the money from the override would benefit the schools the first year and then go into a general fund thereafter. Residents want assurance that the schools will continually be funded.

There are many reasons why more people don’t vote and why they vote yes or no, but identifying those reasons, thinking about them and finding out more is a start. As a concerned parent and believer in public education, I feel we must be informed of how the quality of education the students of Wareham receives is directly compromised by this lack of funding. Unfortunately, when the argument is over at the end of the day, the students and teachers are the ones who will suffer the most.

One example of how the budget crisis affects schools can be seen in what happened in the middle school of the fiscal year 2012. The district-wide budget deficit of approximately $340,000 was addressed by eliminating Wareham’s Middle School social studies program and reducing the staff by eight teachers. A new course was then added to the curriculum entitled Critical Thinking/World Views, which is being taught by teachers who are not necessarily certified in social studies. In addition, “the average class size at the middle school in 2010-2011 was 18.3 students. In 2011-2012, with the reduction in staff at the middle school, class sizes increased in [English], science, and mathematics. Thirty-nine of the 81 classes in these subjects enrolled 25 or more students three of these classes exceeded 30 students” (Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education, 2012).

In a landmark study commissioned by the Tennessee state legislature in the 1980s, a program called Project Star was implemented to study the effects of reduced class sizes. In brief, the research revealed that “students in smaller classes did better than those in larger classes throughout the K-3 grades; minority and inner-city children gained the most from smaller classes; and the more years spent in reduced classes, the longer lasting the benefits” (The Center for Public Education, n.d.). This study demonstrates that academic achievement and quality education is directly related to classroom size.

Teachers, of course, are also affected by class size because they have many more students to teach in a constrained amount of time and cannot always teach to the best of their abilities when they are being pulled in so many different directions.

To further understand how the quality of education is affected by the school budget, I contacted Joan Seamans, the principal of Minot Forest Elementary School. I spoke with Seamans about possible budget cuts for the upcoming 2013-14 school year. She said, “if we have to cut reading interventionists, it will impact the extra support services we can give our students." This cut could potentially be a great loss to the students of Minot Forest who struggle with reading and count on that extra support. Their education will be compromised and that is not only sad, but brings forth further problems the town will face with state testing statistics.

Another issue that Minot Forest faces is that the building cannot accommodate the kindergarten classes that came over when Ethel E. Hammond School was closed. According to the principal, some of the kindergarten students now use the gymnasium for a classroom (J. Seamans, personal communication, April 24, 2013).

The good news, however, is that the fifth graders from Minot and Decas Elementary Schools will be housed in the Middle School for the 2013-14 school year freeing up much needed space for these schools. I also learned from watching the local WCTV channel last year that Minot Forest has issues with their heating system and windows. The school could benefit greatly from repairs and renovations such as more classrooms and improved technology to better instruct students in all subjects including music and art. One of the debt exclusions measures on last year’s ballot was the amount of $110,000 to conduct a feasibility study for the renovation and expansion of Minot Forest, but because the override was voted down, that plan did not materialize (Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education, 2012).

Wareham High School is also in need of repairs. Its roof above the gymnasium was leaking and disrupting gym classes and sports practices, but I am happy to say that it has finally been repaired. However, the rest of the roof is in need of repair and there are leaks in many of the classrooms throughout the school.

With that said, Wareham High School is in need of new computers and the addition of smart boards, iPads and new textbooks to facilitate curriculum and add different creative components to lesson plans. The older students would benefit from the use of such technology especially since they will soon be entering the work force.

To summarize the Wareham Public School district review of 2012, there are three challenges that need to be addressed. One is that we need to have more turnover in town positions to better predict future financial planning. Next, the town needs to foster a better relationship between the School Committee and the Selectmen so that school funding is not compromised. And last, a stronger voice and better communication from the School Committee on what the district needs and how to instill confidence in the residents of Wareham that school funding is being appropriately allocated (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2012).

We, as concerned parents, taxpayers, and stewards of the town need to show support and get involved in supporting the Wareham Public Schools so that the students of Wareham can have equal access to quality education. Wareham students deserve the chance to realize their full potential, but cannot do so without a strong public school foundation to stand on.  They need to be lifted up and not dragged down by the system.

As wonderful and talented as Wareham teachers may be, they need financial support from the school system and that has to come from the state and our community. If that doesn’t happen, the future of Wareham schools will suffer even more than it is now. New families will not want to move to this town or will choose to move away, bringing property values down, which reduces future revenue for the town. If we don’t change our perceptions and attitudes and start investing in the students of Wareham, no one will, and this vicious cycle will perpetuate itself.

There is no place for blame and anger over the state of Wareham Public Schools. This is a time to get involved and to get educated and to learn how we can all work together to help.

How can we be creative as a town and start solving problems instead of perpetuating them? In addition to raising taxes for our schools, there are solutions that would benefit Wareham.

Perhaps the rules of Chapter 70, which is state aid, need to be changed so that school districts such as Wareham receive more funding. Perhaps the Selectmen and School Committee along with the superintendent can come up with more creative ways to get funding for Wareham schools.

What I do know for certain is that we have to learn to keep our feelings out of politics and to start making headway to help the students of Wareham receive a quality education. We need to empower ourselves by being educated and informed. I think that would be a great start.  Also, if your children have graduated and moved on or if you don’t have children, don’t forget about the future graduates of Wareham.  They need your support.

And last but not least please remember to thank your teacher and/or teachers for doing what they do. They work very hard and sacrifice a lot and do more with less for the sake and love of teaching, and deserve to be acknowledged and recognized, not demonized.

Sienna A. Flynn is a student at Lesley University, seeking her Master's degree in education. This article was a final project for her "Arts & Education: History and Philosophy" course.