I appreciate Jonathan Wynn’s recent letter reframing our school budget debate [“Northampton’s school spending,” Feb. 12]. He asks the right question: How can we more effectively invest in our schools?

Like Wynn, I often turn to publicly available data to better understand public policy narratives. Recently I’ve been exploring census and school data on the dozen or so municipalities we compare ourselves to in the mayor’s annual presentation in January.

The following really sticks with me: Northampton has one of the highest home values but a relatively modest homeownership rate (58% at last check) compared to other municipalities that run their own K-12 school systems.

Because schools rely so heavily on property taxes, this is a much smaller base of resident taxpayers compared to other towns. Expensive housing plus a smaller percentage of homeowners suggests a real wealth inequality problem in Northampton.

In a college town with a lot of renters and some affluent homeowners, who will likely skew whiter and older given the realities of the nation’s housing stock, I wonder about the true appetite for school budget increases in the double digits. They sound fabulous but are very atypical for a city of our size.

Moving forward, I hope to see creative leadership from the School Committee that re-imagines our schools to fit our economic realities. This will include willing engagement in strategic planning; a review of how general education settings collaboratively deliver the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities (this is not solely a special education responsibility); and pursuing long-term efficiency solutions like climate adaptation for facilities and school consolidation or regionalization.

I encourage the members of the School Committee to reframe their work to think creatively about how we can design a more equitable school budget that fosters more inclusive classrooms and schools. I am repeating myself in the suggestion that we start by building schools around high-needs students first.

Thinking creatively about sustainable, equitable schools is also an imperative in a city where we have a stark wealth divide that warps the community voice in politics. (This homeowner writes to her local newspaper.)

In my years of public engagement with families of students with disabilities, I’m not aware of significant reduction in Northampton’s educational inequality. We’ve made progress at times, but there is not an equitable before-time that double-digit budget increases would restore.

We still have real work to do. I appreciate Superintendent Portia Bonner’s strategic direction for our schools and hope the School Committee will offer their productive collaboration in this budget cycle and over the long term.

Leigh Graham lives in Northampton and has school-age children.