To the editor:

There has been a lot of talk recently about making difficult choices regarding the school budget – how deeply should programs like foreign language, the arts and sports be cut? How many teacher positions do we need to lose?

Sometimes the toughest decision is to not cut at all. Raise taxes or borrow money to make up for some of the shortfall in state aid and maintain the quality and level of classroom instruction families in Scarborough currently enjoy. Most importantly, do not cut classroom and other instructional positions. Pay-to-play and booster clubs can contribute operational funds to meet the needs of sports and arts, but coaching and instructional staff must be maintained.

As a nation, we have already mortgaged our children’s future financial well-being to satisfy our insatiable need for cheap credit. Slashing the budget for their education just adds insult to injury. Cutting foreign language programs will make it even harder for today’s young people to compete in the global economy. Eliminating sports will erode their health and lead to idle hours after school. Extracurricular and in-school arts programs create more successful students overall.

Choosing to invest in lean times is a tough decision. We may need to get creative to help families deal with unemployment or seniors on fixed incomes deal with a tax increase, but I am hopeful that it can be done, because cutting education budgets now is simply asking our children to someday dig themselves out of a deeper hole than the one we’ve already put them in – and giving them fewer tools to accomplish the task.

David Nitchman

Scarborough