I am disappointed that the Sun Journal ran Jacqueline Smith’s letter about the Lewiston school budget without insisting that the facts she stated were accurate (May 2).
Her letter was filled with worst-case-scenario conclusions, not facts. She made a number of worrisome claims.
First: Reduced class size won’t happen.
She fears that the district will use district-wide numbers instead of elementary numbers, effectively fudging the average. Unless our new-student enrollment exceeds projections, the new teachers will, indeed, reduce class size at the elementary schools, where the proposed positions are slated.
Second: Lewiston couldn’t possibly add additional classes, because there is no additional classroom space.
I have faith that there will be clever solutions to turning spaces into classrooms. I don’t have a guarantee, but neither does Smith, though she wrote as though she did.
Finally, Smith claims that co-teachers will confuse students and have no positive effect on discipline.
If co-teachers confuse the students, something is wrong. Get the principal involved. Generally, more adults in a classroom is a positive. Is it a guarantee? Hardly. But neither can we guarantee that it won’t work at all.
If Lewiston does not start meeting its mandated portion of school funding, it stands to be severely penalized by the state. Schools are already underfunded; can Lewiston really risk losing more funds?
Tax increases hurt everyone, but voting down the Lewiston School Department budget would be bad for the students and city. Doing so because of incorrect information would be worse.
Jennifer Michaelis, Auburn
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