Gee, Think.

I live in a rural small town community in Maine that is now facing a possible school closure. As was demonstrated at the meeting tonight, there is strong support for the elementary school. It is the only school in the town. The community members feel strongly that this school is a pillar of the community and that we should fight to keep it open.

The problem I see in the issue is the lack of tangible actions that can be taken to prevent the school closure. There is a set of rules, policies and procedures, but they do not allow the public of this town to truly exercise their views. Ultimately it is a board of directors for the district that will decide whether or not to keep the school open. Of this board of 11 communities each community is represented by one member. We have no exact way of preventing the board from closing the school even if every member of the community is willing to pitch in and find a way to keep it open.

I see a solution that I strongly believe is realistic, feasible, and simple enough to work. It is based on the commitment of each community to their school. Tonight, that commitment was shown to be strong and ready for action. Here’s the idea: before the board can vote to close a school, they must present the community with a list of budget shortfalls or specific needs that must be met in order to keep the school open. They must present a tangible list of needs and give the community a chance, as a whole, to come together and find a way to fulfill those needs. Further, they must justify why this particular community is being asked to produce an additional contribution if other communities are not asked to contribute in a similar way.

People are incredibly resourceful when they have to be. If there was a specific list of items that had to be addressed, I know that our town could do it. But there is not, nor is there required to be. The board of directors, of which our town is represented by only one member, can vote by two thirds majority to close the school.

Each member of the board is representing their own community. If the general feeling on the board is that a school must be closed, what will each board member be thinking during the vote? When it comes down to it, the choice is between our town, or the town they live in. Who would sacrifice their school for the school in another community? Once any school is singled out for evaluation for closure, the voting process predisposes a vote in favor of closing that school to save their own. That is, unless our board members have the courage to demand more resourcefulness and community resiliency.

I love Alan Grayson’s style. He has the attitude that I think has become necessary in this political climate, except he’s on the same side as I am on many issues. He’s the congressional representative of Florida’s 6th district. Yesterday he sent an email out looking for comments to pass on to President Obama. I drafted a little off the cuff litany of requests and sent it off. Who knows, maybe it was heard! Either way, it feels good to write down and express some of the frustrations I’ve had with our current political course.

Here’s what I sent:

Congressman Grayson,

Please tell President Obama that he needs to stop compromising with the Republicans because they won’t support him anyway. Compromising on good ideas like financial reform, climate legislation, and health care, just loses credibility and support within the voter base that elected him. Forget the corporate influence since you are the President. Lead us in direction of more true reforms that don’t make concessions to corporations. The media will attack you for this, but the people will support you.

End the wars now. We are losing our nations wealth in terms of human life and resources, and we are bringing devastation to the lives of families in Afghanistan and Iraq. These adventures are nothing more than imperialistic expeditions that funnel money into contractors and other companies that profit from defense spending. It has gone on long enough, we are not making any ‘progress’ and it needs to end.

Also, the gag order around reporters in the gulf region pertaining to oiled wildlife and containment booms is Orwellian and repugnant. I am glad that the President came out on the side of Religious freedom regarding the Islamic mosque at ground zero, but I think the infringement on first amendment rights in the gulf was atrocious. While we are on the topic of rights, how about reinstating habeas corpus?

Regarding energy, the support of nuclear energy is a really tremendously awful idea. The risks with nuclear are far too great. We should instead be providing these loan guarantees to developing off shore wind, for example. The oil catastrophe is a great moment to seize upon public disgust with our oil companies and move toward renewable energy sources. Just to be clear, clean coal is not one of these options.

Thank you Congressman Grayson for considering these few concerns off the top of my head.