Editor:

I am not an important person: I hold no clout, have no connections, and I am not wealthy. I do, however, represent a large population of parents who have children in the Baldwin County School System.

We, as citizens of Baldwin County, have decided to settle here and build the lives of our families based on the firm belief that this is a superior place to live.

Until recently, I held a certain modicum of pride that my children would receive a world class education from the Baldwin County School System. That pride, faith and hope have been violated by the gross mismanagement of funding and the outdated and thoroughly unfortunate laws that govern the economic state of our school system.

On top of the disappointment we are all feeling regarding the lack of advantage our children will now be receiving due to these massive budget cuts, you add insult to injury by covering up the plight our next generation now faces.

It is, in my estimation, completely unacceptable that we are depriving our community’s future leaders of the education they will need to grow, thrive and succeed. Most of us have fought to provide the best for our children, no matter what the cost to ourselves and to our own convenience. Should we not be able to expect the same from the leaders who supposedly have been elected or appointed to be stewards to the welfare of our children?

We must have change. Rather than trying to sell every variety of candy, cookie, wrap, or treat, we should advocate immediate action to propose a 1 percent sales tax to provide our schools with the funding to finance the education our children deserve. After this bandage solution is in place, it should give us time to find real solutions for giving our schools back the funding they need and deserve.

Please, for our children, help us provide a better tomorrow for our youth. If we do nothing now, the financial situation of our school system and our community will only continue to fester and die. We have worked too hard to make this our home. Please listen to your average populous and give our schools the lifeline they deserve.

Fairhope