Letter: Support Jaffrey-Rindge CTE project
Published: 01-24-2025 5:24 PM |
Lots of people came to the Jaffrey-Rindge School Board meeting Jan. 16 to hear about the proposed CTE building project, to ask questions, to voice support or not. It’s true, because property taxes fund education in New Hampshire, school improvements lead to a rise in those taxes. It’s true, Jaffrey residents pay proportionally more than more-affluent communities. None of this is the fault of the School Board.
Their goal is to provide a remarkable opportunity to Jaffrey students, with 75% of construction costs funded by the state. It is the 25% that gave some audience members pause. They urged us to be “penny wise.” But the other half of the aphorism is “pound foolish.” Sometimes saving money is very expensive. A lost opportunity has costs, sometimes enormous ones. Failing to support the CTE will cost our students opportunities well into their adulthoods. One of the attendees called this proposal “a heavy lift.” I assert that it would provide a big lift.
There is no education we can give to children more important than competence. Being able to do something well is the basis of genuine self-confidence. It supports resilience when things are hard, and creates the necessary foundation to take on more challenge. An antidote to the despair many young people feel is the fulfillment to be found in useful work. We need more young people to feel capable.
While the CTE center will not resolve all societal ills, it will give those who engage with it a growing sense of their own competence. This will be a return worthy of our investment.
Please vote in favor of the CTE project in March.
Elizabeth Webster
Jaffrey
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