To the editor:

After hearing about the large estimated decline in the state’s contribution to Brunswick’s school budget, I thought it important to learn why.

I now know that it is a “perfect storm” of steeply declining enrollments, significant decreases in the town’s nonproperty tax revenue and a steady increase in the state’s valuation of Brunswick’s property available for taxation.

In the face of this, Brunswick’s schools have been visibly cutting and consolidating to the point where further cuts would result in significant losses of educational programs.

Maine and Brunswick must rise to meet this challenge in order to maintain the high quality of our schools. That Maine in 2004 promised to fund 55 percent of what the state calculates should be the sum of all districts’ operating budgets is admirable, but the substantial decline since 2008 in the actual percent funded imposes financial strain and uncertainty on local school districts.

This pattern erodes trust, so I suggest that the state explicitly re-evaluate and then meet its commitment. I also urge town officials to raise the funds necessary to maintain Brunswick’s school programs, through property taxes or otherwise.

Brunswick’s highly regarded school system is an asset that attracts many young families. My family chose to reside in Brunswick in large part because of the quality of its schools, and it pains me to see Maine’s next generation, which includes my two daughters, at risk of losing the educational programs that benefited me so greatly.

I was born and then raised here, earning my diploma from Brunswick High School in 1996. At BHS, I was fortunate to have been prepared to meet many subsequent academic challenges outside of Maine, and I was again fortunate to be able to return to Maine to teach economics at Bates College.

I would not have achieved my goals if it had not been for inspiring, challenging and supportive teachers. I hope that Brunswick continues to allow its children to find success wherever they seek it and, by the same token, its children continue to find Brunswick a place well worth returning to.

Nathan Tefft
Brunswick