Whether you think money for starting kindergarten in Salem should be included in the district budget or you agree with the Budget Committee that it doesn’t belong there, one thing is certain: Your opinion won’t matter if you don’t attend the deliberative session of the School District Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 5.

This important issue is one of the things officials and voters will discuss, and the debate is sure to be heated.

At this point, almost no one is saying kindergarten is unnecessary. The state has said it’s imperative as part of an adequate education and all districts are to put a program into place by fall.

It’s the paying-for-it part that some don’t agree with.

Be that as it may, the district has to have a kindergarten by 2009, and we’ll have to pay for it, or risk spending a lot of money in a lawsuit to try to prove we don’t have to. That seems like a lose-lose proposition.

To include the money in the budget, it boils down to about $53 more over the year for someone who owns a $300,000 home.

If you think that’s fair, then come to the meeting and argue your point.

If you think the state is being unfair by making the town pay for something they’ve mandated, you can voice that opinion. Just don’t gripe if, come the vote on March 10, your choice isn’t on the ballot. This deliberative session will be very real example of the power of the people to make a change in the way their money is spent.

Exercise that power Feb. 5.

- Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board.

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