It is both penny wise and dollar wise to vote in favor of the Great Neck school budget and bond issue. Over the past few years, the state has mandated and our school board has complied to limit budget increase of approximately 1.5 percent. If your taxes went up more than that, it is because your neighbors have filed successful tax-reduction challenges.
Great Neck is a wonderfully diverse community and, to some extent, the public schools represent an important unifying factor of our diverse community. Therefore, I wish to describe three groups and why they should support our schools.
• If you currently have or will have children in the schools, you want them to receive a first-rate education. This will lead to an admission to a quality college and eventually to a meaningful job and career.
• If you are an empty nester as I am, your children received a fabulous education and are now in college, graduate school or a meaningful profession. For the 12 years that your child was in school, your school taxes were a mere fraction of the amount that was spend on each of your children’s education. The empty nesters were paying for your child’s education. Now, it is your turn to return the favor.
• If you have or will have children in a private school, your children will benefit from a huge amount of valuable services. These serves include busing, textbooks, computers and professional personnel. Included are a school nurse, a school psychologist, a speech therapist and a host of services for students with special needs.
A vote for the school budget and the bond issue is a vote for Great Neck.
—Stuart Lubert, EdD
