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if you mandated that a percentage of funds allocated to each system must ga towards <br />its collaboration efforts? What if a committee consisting of representatives from both <br />school boards was put in place for Commissioners jointly allocating that portion of <br />funding? What if the Board of Commissioners were to serve as the arbiters in <br />determining how or even whether to allocate such funding where local boards couldn't <br />agree? Could the concept be codified so as to alleviate the concern that it would only <br />be a temporary solution? Some folks may believe that this is going too far. Some folks <br />may believe that this is not going far enough. The consideration of ideas such as that <br />may begin to lead you down a path to building a consensus. But don't underestimate <br />the value of building a consensus. A final comment on the funding gap -merging the <br />best funded system of over 100 in the State with the fourth best funded system in the <br />State is merely one possible way to address a local funding issue. But it does not seem <br />to rise to the level of solving a civil rights or social injustice issue as has been <br />suggested. It seemed odd to me to elevate it to such status in the local context and <br />then to subsequently celebrate a merged number one ar number two overall funded <br />district for high performance characteristics relative to a hundred lesser-funded districts. <br />That would seem to me to result in more than a slight bit of irony to a neutral observer. <br />Thank you. <br />Deborah Love: I've heard a lot this evening about the hostility and divisiveness of this <br />issue in our community. And I think that we really have a lot mare agreement than we <br />recognize. And I'd like to urge us to focus on the areas where we have common <br />ground. And I hope that the audience will help me demonstrate this. So I would ask <br />you if you would please stand if you care about the education of all children in this <br />County. I would ask you to remain standing if you're concerned about the difference in <br />funding between the two districts. I would ask you to please remain standing if you are <br />dissatisfied with the funding structure that allows funding levels in one district to <br />inadvertently restrict funding levels in the other district. Please remain standing if you <br />believe that the means for corrective Hess, however it's done, should not be subject to <br />the whims of whoever holds elective office at any moment in time. I think we have an <br />awful lot of common ground here in which to build. Thank you very much. And I prefer <br />to focus an that. I think this community is ripe for change. I think this dialogue has <br />increased a lot of people's awareness about the issues. I don't know what the best <br />solution is, but I do believe that we have a lot of educated, committed, creative people in <br />this community who can find the solution that builds on this common ground. And so <br />I'm asking you to appoint a commission of citizens and educators whose charge it is to <br />develop community alignment around the problems to be addressed in a clear and <br />convincing case for action. Number two, to explore all possible solutions, one of which <br />may be merger, if that meets the criteria from the case for action. And three, to <br />formulate concrete actionable recommendations for addressing the problems that are <br />identified. Not big picture motherhood and apple pie recommendations like the 1986 <br />merger report, but concrete blueprint far change. And that we do this in a way that <br />capitalizes on this common ground. Thank you. <br />Debbie Piscitelli: My name is Qebbie Piscitelli, and my two boys attend at an Orange <br />County School. I am of the minority who is yet to make up his ar her mind regarding the <br />