Melrose resident supports the MEA and override

I am writing to express my support for the MEA (Melrose Education Association) teachers who stood out before school opened last week to show their support for OneMelrose, and the campaign to pass a Proposition 2 1/2 override in April. I am grateful to the educators who braved the cold to fight for our children, and the schools they deserve.

Our schools are at crossroads. The facts are incontrovertible. State and federal funding have not kept pace with mandated spending requirements in recent years, while special education costs and enrollment numbers have exploded. Our per pupil spending is now the twelfth lowest in the entire state of Massachusetts and our teacher pay is the second lowest in eastern Massachusetts. Budgets for classroom supplies have been slashed, and money for updated curriculum has disappeared. Teaching positions have been cut, and many more positions are in line to be cut for the 2019/2020 school year. Our children are in overcrowded classrooms with fewer para professionals and insufficient support staff. These are not the conditions for a healthy school system.

I was an elementary school teacher for a decade before my husband and I had children, and I’ve been an active volunteer with Melrose Public Schools for years. As the Enrichment Coordinator for the Winthrop School and a Citywide PTO representative, I’ve been privileged with an insider’s view into the workings of our school system. I am often awed by the talent and dedication of our teachers in Melrose. Day in day out, they show up to do the hard work of meeting the needs of our children, despite the scarcity of funding for necessities. Sometimes our teachers even dip into their own pockets to provide basic supplies for the students in their classrooms. We should be grateful for Melrose teachers’ commitment and dedication to our children, who are their bottom line. Which is why it comes as no surprise that we find so many of them now volunteering their own time to stand out in the morning before school, canvass for OneMelrose, work at phone banks, and attend house parties to share their experiences with voters trying to understand the problem.

It’s high time we supported them, and this override will take meaningful steps in that direction. Of the $5.18 million in additional revenue that would come from an override. $1.85 million is dedicated to improving teachers’ salaries, while $1.9 million is earmarked for restoring and hiring staff required for increased student enrollment, and an additional $675K would go to fund curriculum, materials and space needed for student learning. These materials are the absolute basics, necessities other communities take for granted, such as paper and crayons, books and technology licenses, and adequate devices to comply with state mandated testing requirements. These are not luxuries, but the bare minimum needed to educate students in the twenty-first century.

For these reasons and many more, I stand with the MEA in their support of OneMelrose and the mayor’s proposal to more adequately fund our school district. It is my sincere and fervent hope that we will join together as a community to pass this direly needed ballot measure.

Ani Talarico Breay

Melrose Resident