‘I look at our schools and I am concerned’

I am writing as a taxpayer of Danbury, and a small business owner. As the city budget for the next year is prepared, I request that our city leaders fully fund the school budget which has been sent to you from the Board of Education.

It’s true, I am also writing about this through the lens of an immigrant because that is part of who I am. I am someone who would like to see the descendants of immigrants and the next generation of immigrants find success in America, the dream that so many immigrants have found here through public education.

But this success is the goal of every parent I know, whether they are immigrants or not. Every parent I know wishes for their child to become a productive, compassionate and moral adult, and a conscientious community member. I look at our schools and I am concerned. I hear from parents who want the public schools to offer smaller classes, to have more educational after school programs and opportunities, to have better liaisons between parents and schools, to have safer, better maintained buildings.

But our schools cannot do the work that is required with the tools they currently have. Our per student expenditure is too low. And yes, the state owes us more, but so does the city owe the schools. If our community can afford to give tax abatements to developers, we should be able to afford the needs of our schools first.

We have opportunity now. We can decide to support our schools with the money they need to help our children achieve at higher levels. With this budget, we can start to lay the foundation of the Career Academy, which will be great for Danbury. Not every student has the chance to go to college, and with this high school they can gain important job skills that are valuable to businesses. And businesses will know that Danbury is providing a trained workforce and want to come here.

We need to invest in our students, and we all need to be willing to make a bigger contribution if necessary. If we have to raise taxes, we should because we will all benefit from higher property values that come with a strong education system. We will all benefit from the businesses that are attracted to a thriving city with a school system that produces educated workers and leaders. The quality of the education we provide will determine the value of our community.

We should always step up for a better Danbury, because that is what we all want.

I again request our leaders to be part of a collective effort to improve the quality of education in Danbury, and fully fund the budget requested by the Board of Education.