Letter from someone who left...

I received this letter from a Roxbury resident who recently moved out of town - it gives a perspective that I completely agree with - although I'm not moving!

I could go on and on with the things I would like to say about why we left town. No, we didn't leave town, we left the district. Because of the district! What people don't seem to understand is, by voting their budgets down to save a few dollars a month, they're thereby bringing their home values down with the district.

It took us four years to be able to sell our home for a reasonable price, and we just about broke even on the sale. I know the market isn't favorable right now, but homes do hold their value better in districts where education is a priority to the members of the community. Just look down the list of the highest rated high schools in NJ. There's definitely a correlation between the number of passing school budgets and home prices. And a failing district scares off the families of the students who would ordinarily help the district to uphold their superior test scores and success rates. In fact, my son's Rox principle said, on hearing our house was for sale "No! You can't move! We need your son's test scores!" Communities that don't support their education systems drive off quality students, so test scores suffer, and the districts lose aid, further damaging the district. It's just a vicious circle.

We loved living in Roxbury. We had some great experiences with many quality teachers. It would have been wonderful to see the support of our community behind our schools. Every year that we lived in Roxbury, something else was taken away from our kids. Family Education Nights, first grade teacher's aids, late buses, Spanish teachers, field trips, guidance counselors... We came too close to losing our orchestra program. My son's desk was in the coat closet during 5th grade because the class sizes were so unmanageable. And still budget after budget went down. So, we never saw anything come back to us. What are they going to do when there's nothing left to cut? It's not just the budgets that are failing, it's the community that's failing it's children.

I'm a firm believer that if your student is going to do well, he or she will do well wherever he/she goes. But they can only do the best they can with what they've got. A limited district = limited opportunities = limited students. I guess the old adage is true - you get what you pay for.