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issues involved. And what it comes dawn is what we've heard this evening is equal <br />educational opportunity for all students in the County. What I fail to understand and <br />many of my fellow citizens fail to understand is why merger is necessary to achieve this <br />goal. Why, if given equal funding, would we expect that the Orange County schools <br />would not provide an educational experience equal to ar even better than what's <br />currently available in Chapel Hill? All of us in the auditorium this evening should feel <br />greatly privileged that we live in a County that has two of the top school districts in all of <br />North Carolina. That is a situation for which we should all be proud; a situation for <br />which we should all be grateful, and a situation in which we should all be very cautious. <br />One important matter that's came up and discussed this evening is the importance in <br />parental involvement in community schools to help student achievement. It would <br />create a larger geographic area, a more impersonal system, and this could be <br />damaging. I ask the Commissioners to take the conservative approach to take the <br />actions on the table to equalize funding between the districts, allow that situation to play <br />out for a while, and consider at some future date if merger above and beyond equal <br />funding would provide additional benefits. Thank you. <br />Liping Wang: My name is Liping Wang. I live in Chapel Hill. And I have a daughter in <br />Smith Middle School. I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of my family, my neighbors, <br />and my friends. We strongly appose the proposed school merger. My family moved <br />from Durham to Chapel Hill two years ago. The only reason far the move is the goad <br />schaol system we have here in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. It is also the very same reason <br />that my neighbors and friends chose to live in Chapel Hill. But we are concerned now <br />that the merger may have a very disruptive effect on our students and our school <br />systems. First, with the merger, inevitably some Chapel Hill-Carrboro students will take <br />a long bus ride every day. Long bus rides are wasted time imposed an our children. <br />They will no longer have enough time to do their homework, to play outside, and to have <br />extra activities. Long bus rides also poses a safety issue, especially for our young <br />children. Second, we believe that academic achievement is well correlated with <br />parental involvement and environmental support. With the merger, there will be less <br />parental involvement because our community school is not just a few minutes away <br />anymore. With the merger, redistricting will inevitably happen and we can see that our <br />neighborhood school will be split. That's something we don't want to see. Finally, one <br />reason for the proposed merger is to reduce the funding disparity between the City and <br />County school systems. However, if the County's district enacts a district tax similar to <br />the one in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, the schools could equalize funding without merging. <br />With the two separate school systems, each schaol system can determine the <br />appropriate funding for its needs. If the merger takes place, it will mean that the same <br />high level of funding has to be applied to both school systems, which would necessitate <br />an immediate tax increase for Orange County residents. Is that really what everyone <br />wanted? We are here tonight to ask the County Commissioners, please do not vote far <br />the merger while there are other means that can be explored. Thank you. <br />Yuling Li: I'm a Chapel Hill resident. I strongly oppose school merger. First, I think <br />merger will put Orange County in a very difficult position. According to the proposal, <br />after merger, Orange County residents will pay a much higher tax than other counties <br />