To the members of the East Greenwich Town Council:

I am deeply concerned about the current state of public schools in East Greenwich. We cannot continue to undermine our students, our teachers, and our community’s future with inadequate funding. We must prioritize education–not as an afterthought, but as the foundation of a thriving community. Our students, educators, and families deserve more than the bare minimum. It’s time to restore meaningful investment in our schools now.

This means we must provide adequate funding to:

-Ensure students have sufficient resources to succeed in the classroom
-Improve student-to-teacher ratios
-Save school sports and extracurricular activities
-Provide compensation for teachers and education support professionals that matches the state average
-Enhance East Greenwich's school buildings 

To make this happen, we urge the Town Council to take two measures to properly fund our schools and reverse this trend. One, the Council should request a waiver from the General Assembly to exceed the 4% school funding increase cap–something other RI cities and towns have taken advantage of when facing fiscal emergencies. Two, the Council can use a small percentage of your roughly $10 million dollar fund balance to help make up for this year’s devastating budget gap–just as you've required the School Committee to do for years.

Our town’s budget should reflect our values. And if East Greenwich truly values education, it’s time to prove it. A strong school system benefits everyone–protecting property values, attracting families, and preparing the next generation for success.

For these reasons, I respectfully urge you to properly invest in our public schools. Our community deserves nothing less.

Thank you for your consideration.