Make your vote count

To the editor: Can you believe that some of our state legislators are actually bragging and trying to take credit for the paltry “election time” property tax credit of a couple hundred dollars when most home owners are paying in excess of $6,000 for school tax alone this year? These same legislators must be congratulating themselves that they successfully completed another four years of skirting the issue of school funding reform and now they expect to be re-elected for another term! The fair and equitable funding of our schools is too important to be a political “party line” football. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats seem to be willing to rise above the party line for the common good of school funding reform; it almost seems like an unspoken agreement between the two parties that “if you don’t upset the applecart, we won’t.” The incumbent legislators, who are seeking their third or more term, don’t seem to have gotten the message or they are against school funding reform. The newer elected legislators generally are more receptive to change and voters’ needs but are overpowered by the established party line and senior legislators. I would suggest voters strongly consider forgetting about party lines and vote for only new candidates or incumbent candidates with only two (or less) terms in the legislature. This might level the playing field to encourage the consideration of change and reduce the tendency to protect the status-quo. It’s worth a try since the current system does not appear to want to address the critical issue of school funding and the onerous unfair burden on property owners. William A. Fullerton Warwick