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and impractical. They are no more than quick fixes that don't address long term and <br />capital needs. And I hope they will not distract you from a thorough and fair <br />examination of merger. I would just like to say also, the County residents don't want to <br />diminish the Chapel Hill schools in any way; we just want to see that improvements are <br />made in the long term way to our schools. <br />Anne Lutes: I have two children, one of them in the Orange County Schools and one <br />of them starting next year. There are a lot of people here tonight to make their voices <br />heard, but I'd like to remind the County Commissioners that there are 6,500 people who <br />are not going to have their voices heard tonight, who won't have their voices heard in a <br />vote, and those are the school children now enrolled in the Orange County Schools. <br />How many more are not in school yet, like my younger daughter, how many more who <br />are not even born yet; children whose parents can't afford a $300,000 house in Chapel <br />Hill; children who will miss opportunities for whom doors won't open to break the cycle <br />of poverty. Who will speak for them? Every child in this County, including the ones in <br />Chapel Hill, and including the ones in Orange County, deserves an excellent education, <br />not just the ones privileged to live in Chapel Hill. Merger is the only way to permanently <br />ensure that. Nothing else in 17 years, despite what I believe is all of your best <br />intentions, has worked. Doing the right thing is seldom easy and is seldom comfortable, <br />but we are not always called to be comfortable. We are called to do what's right. <br />challenge you, all five of you, to lead us, even if it's to a place that some of us don't <br />want to go. If you won't speak for the children of Orange County, who will? <br />Arlene Furman: Thank you for this opportunity to speak, my name is Arlene Furman, <br />and I have two children attending Grady Brown Elementary School in Hillsborough, and <br />I'm very proud of the Orange County Schools. And I would like to present one simple <br />fact, which is that all of us here tonight are neighbors, whether we live within the city <br />school district or out in the County, whether we have an address in Efland or in <br />Carrboro. We are all citizens of Orange County who must rely upon each other. <br />believe that neighbors should respect each other, look out for each other, and that good <br />neighbors should strive together to reach a common goal; that goal being the education <br />of our children. I believe we can attain greater things for children in Orange County <br />together rather than apart. I believe every child in Orange County should enjoy the <br />same basic academic opportunities. I believe we should first take care of our students <br />with the greatest need, whether they are academic, or social, or physical. I believe that <br />notions of distinct cultures within our County, in fact, mask prejudice and fear on both <br />sides, both within the city district and in the County, which need to be addressed and <br />expelled forever. And I support school merger because I believe all of our children <br />deserve excellent schools and an excellent education. Excellent schools within <br />supportive communities produce good citizens and good citizens make good neighbors. <br />Thank you. <br />Tim Godsey: Hi, I'm Tim Godsey. My family and I live in the northwestern part of the <br />city school district, and this area is affectionately known as the Northwest Territory. I <br />have a son, Eric, who is in the fourth grade at McDougle Elementary School. He has <br />attended this school since kindergarten. Not only does Eric feel that this is the best <br />