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Letter: Vote yes on Measure C to keep schools great

I have been a Menlo Park resident since 1990. We have two children in the Menlo Park schools, both at Hillview now and products of Oak Knoll.

I have served on the Menlo Park Atherton Education Foundation board for five years including a term as president. I have seen the school board make tough decisions, I have seen the superintendent make unpopular decisions and have continually been impressed with their unabated desire to make our schools stronger.

It is quite disturbing to see the state of affairs we are in today. We have a $2 million deficit to overcome in a school system that operates at the best administrator-to-student ratio in the area. There are not a lot frills or fat in the budget, so we are forced to cut muscle. I find this both sad and appalling.

As a community we rally together time and time again to pass much needed bond measures and parcel taxes. No one likes to be taxed more but certainly if we are going to do it, we may as well do it for the good of our children. We are going to be asked to vote for the Measure C parcel tax in the coming days. It will cost most households $178 per year.

For most families, this is the equivalent of three months of their cable bill. It is actually not enough for the task at hand but it is an amount that will help stop the bleeding. This cannot be too much to ask in order to preserve all the hard work that has gone into making our schools so great for our children.

Please join me and vote yes on Measure C and keep our schools great.

Ted Schlein

Cotton Street, Menlo Park