LETTER: Support Mansfield school budget

Alison Perrone, president, Columbus Home and School Association
   There are 716 reasons why I urge you to go out on April 27 and vote yes for the Mansfield Township school budget. Your yes vote is an investment in the futures of the 716 children enrolled in the Mansfield Township Elementary Schools. Your yes vote means that these 716 children will have the privilege of an outstanding public school education, with highly qualified teachers, up-to-date text books, and access to cutting edge technology.
   Whether we have children or we don’t, whether our children are school age or grown, this is an issue that affects us all.
   These 716 children are our future and we have the opportunity, the responsibility, to give them the gift of an education that will leave them poised to become our next generation of leaders.
   Passing the school budget means an average tax increase of $40 a year. It also means that Mansfield Elementary School children will have additional teachers, smaller class sizes, dozens of new computers and other technology upgrades, and updated language arts and science materials.
   I could think of other ways to spend that $40 if I kept it for myself. But there are 716 reasons why I’m not going to do that. Invest in the future and vote yes for the Mansfield Township school budget.