To the editor:

So where are we? We have a bond proposal that pits families and neighborhoods against each other by closing some facilities while building others. We reduced staff and services at our district schools after the first wave of cuts last year, and more proposals will make deeper and more significant cuts this year.

We have one school board member calling for quicker closings of two elementary schools because DLR Group of Overland Park, the consultants responsible for the recommendations forged into the bond issue, says we will save $1.4 million annually. We have a district bond issue information Web site that, according to one credible critic, is more promotional than informational (LJW, Feb. 18). In short, we have mistrust, misunderstanding and deep discord.

And with or without this bond issue, the education of our children will suffer. As Brent Lamb (letter, Feb. 18) points out, consolidation of schools does permanent, long-term damage for short-term gain in response to a temporary problem. There’s damage to neighborhoods suddenly without schools, damage to education by crowding facilities, programs and people into less space, by increasing class sizes and firing good teachers. Still, we face another wave of unacceptable cuts to programs and staff.

Enough! This community has the intellectual and financial resources to find equitable and peaceful solutions to the problem of educating its children during tight state budgets. In times like this, it’s far better for us to set a precedent of supporting our own public school system (e.g., with local sales tax) than damaging it by conflicts, cuts and closings.

Sharon Dewey,

Lawrence