The current politics of the city of Northampton are beginning to mirror our national politics in some disturbing ways. As MAGA folks seem to see things, a cabal of elected officials and government employees are conspiring to do harm to regular folks. Nationally, the Project 2025 aficionados want us to believe a deep state of bureaucrats is conspiring to do nothing but bad things to the country. From the NIH to the EPA and everything in between, they want us to believe that these evil government forces have created programs and policies that cause harm to the American people.
And right here in our little hamlet, some folks think there is a group of elected leaders and town employees who are conspiring to keep money away from our schools. We are told that there are pots of money being hoarded at the expense of our local schools. But as Ellen Nigrosh pointed out in an excellent recent column, there is a more rational explanation: several forces, including Proposition 2½ and issues with state funding are contributing to the ongoing fiscal restraints. I would add that decreasing enrollment, administrative turnover, and a lack of long-term strategic planning to address some of the ongoing challenges also figure into the current fiscal situation.
So to all the candidates for mayor, City Council, and School Committee who are running on the platform of increased school spending, I say “SHOW ME THE MONEY.” Not just spending some reserves to plug the gaps, but show me a 10-year plan of spending those reserves now and its impact on the future. Show me the cuts to other city departments if we start spending our reserves in the next year or two. Show me the overrides. Show me how this all plays out for the well-being of the child born at Cooley Dickinson yesterday. Then, we can have a rational discussion of how to approach our current situation.
The idea that anyone in city government, elected or employed is not interested in the well-being of our children is absurd. And until these candidates show us the money in the form of an actionable and sustainable plan, it’s impossible to believe that they have the knowledge or skills to guide the city through the current challenges.
Daniel Klatz
Northampton