Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
22 <br /> 1 From: Stephanie Palmer <br /> 2 Phone Number: 919-740-5243 <br /> 3 Message: <br /> 4 May 27, 2014 <br /> 5 <br /> 6 Dear County Commissioners, <br /> 7 1 am writing to ask you to please fully fund the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City <br /> 8 Schools budgets. Here's why: <br /> 9 <br /> 10 1. Education drives economic growth <br /> 11 My husband works for Rambus, Inc. on E. Franklin Street. His California-based business chose <br /> 12 to open an office in Chapel Hill because of the strong school system and the amount of highly <br /> 13 educated applicants from local schools and universities. Keep our schools funded so that more <br /> 14 large businesses choose to locate here and Rambus is able to keep its office open in NC! <br /> 15 <br /> 16 2. Our kids are worth it. <br /> 17 1 have two children, ages four and eight. Their future, and the future of all our children in Orange <br /> 18 County, depends on getting a good education. The rainy day fund is gone. There is no more to <br /> 19 trim from the budget. If you do not fully fund the schools' budgets, my children will be in <br /> 20 overcrowded, poorly maintained schools, with fewer teachers. Those teachers will have more <br /> 21 responsibilities with less support from TAs, gifted specialists, and other staff. <br /> 22 <br /> 23 3. Our property values and thus our tax revenues depend on it. <br /> 24 We bought a home in Chapel Hill for the schools and we were willing to pay the higher cost of <br /> 25 housing to live here. Most of our neighbors did the same. Strong schools keep our property <br /> 26 values high. We are counting on you to fully fund the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br /> 27 City Schools budget. <br /> 28 <br /> 29 Sincerely, <br /> 30 Stephanie Palmer <br /> 31 305 Autumn Drive <br /> 32 Chapel Hill, NC 27516 <br /> 33 <br /> 34 <br /> 35 From: D. Neil Hayes <br /> 36 Phone Number: 919-357-3387 <br /> 37 Message: <br /> 38 Dear Orange County Commissioners, <br /> 39 We are parents of 2 children in Glenwood Elementary School in Chapel Hill and a daughter who <br /> 40 will be there soon. We share the interest of millions of parents in the state of North Carolina in <br /> 41 the quality education of our children, the future citizens of our democracy. <br /> 42 In our lifetime, my wife and I have never seen such tangible and direct negative consequences <br /> 43 of human decisions as we have in the public schools as a direct result of our political leaders in <br /> 44 North Carolina State Government. Morale is palpably low. Infrastructure and resources are <br /> 45 lacking even to the casual observer. These changes have happened quickly and as a visible <br /> 46 result of decisions made by our lawmakers. <br /> 47 Let's be clear, this is not business as usual; fiscal discipline resulting from responsible <br /> 48 leadership balancing competing interests or programs. To my knowledge, there are few arguing <br /> 49 any benefits for education. Data driven outcomes and changes in metrics (teacher losses, pay <br /> 50 statistics, etc) have generally been described as extreme, even compared to fiscally <br /> 51 conservative national trends. In most cases, the timing of declines leaves little uncertainty as to <br /> 52 cause being decisions in Raleigh. <br />