The biggest legislative issue of the session ended with a lot of drama and emotion this week when the House and Senate voted to send H.454, the education bill, to the governor.
This bill went through more than its fair share of machinations this session and was at times much better than the final version that emerged from negotiations late last week. In this writer’s opinion, the final version gives too much deference to private and independent schools, among other flaws.
This is a very difficult and touchy subject for people. It’s about educating our kids. It’s about our schools. It’s about our education tax bills which are unaffordable, with no signs of becoming less so. It’s about health care costs, that perpetual elephant in the living room. It’s also about this moment in time where we find ourselves.
Waterbury representative Tom Stevens said it best here:
“I have served in the Legislature long enough to have voted on Act 127, and Act 46 – the two most recent attempts to provide an educational system that works for those who fund it and those who receive the benefits of a topnotch education. This tension is real, and while many of us put the students first, we must consider the expense of educating a diminishing number of students in buildings that are aging and in communities that are shrinking.”
He's right. All communities want to provide the best possible education for their kids and we’re all faced with these specific demographics and this collection of aging buildings in need of repairs.
It's hard. And we can and should keep it civil as we work toward what’s best for all of us. That means agreeing to disagree. We received reports from legislators about receiving threats and or disparaging comments about how they vote/voted or plan to vote.
That’s not okay. We elect these people to represent us. We communicate with them about issues and legislation. They are not required to vote according to our specific wishes and our resource is our vote, our free press and our (civil) voices.
