Hello! I hope at this time you all are doing well. I wanted to create this petition to try and help Newton Public Schools get the funding it deserves. I am trying to show that this topic has support, so that it can be better seen as something that needs attention.

          For some background information,  Newton Public Schools has been hit by a lack of funding from the government. In January of last school year, our teachers went on strike for new contracts. This led to 11 school days being lost, and a new four year contract was struck for the teachers. Although there were problems before hand, this showed the true instability of the district's funding. One number brings the problem into perspective. GBH reports that full time teaching aids receive a salary of 32,300 dollars. When you compare that to the average Newton salary of 63,512 reported by ZipRecruiter, the difference is staggering. We need to give the teachers supplies to succeed and properly teach kids. 

          In March of 2023, voters decided to vote against a Proposition 2 1/2 override.  This would remove the cap on Newton's property tax, allowing the city to be able to raise more funds.  This would have closed a 6 million dollar budget gap in the schools, allowing for more leeway in spending, by raising a reported 9,175,000 dollars to help pay for various improvements, including the renovation of the Horace Mann elementary school. The overrule would have also raised an extra 4.5 million dollars to supplement the Newton Public Schools budget. But since Newton voters decided to not allow the override,  this money cannot be raised to help the schools. Newton Public School's motto is Excellence through Knowledge. Let's keep it that way.

-8th grade student of Brown Middle School, Newton MA