As the parents of three young children — our oldest just entered kindergarten last fall — my wife Mary and I unquestionably harbor a biased view of what we think is “ best” for Brunswick when it comes to funding our town’s schools.

With the prospect of education budget cuts looming on the horizon, due to circumstances mostly out of the town’s control, my family and I are committed to support any reasonable effort to cover this shortfall including ( wait for it …) raising taxes (gasp).

My family could easily be labeled a “special interest” by those lacking the foresight to appreciate the cumulative benefits of properly funded schools. As parents of current and soonto be school aged children, we know what’s in it for us, but what’s in it for other stakeholders in the community who might be looking at this issue with uncertainty? How do we convince them that funding our schools, via tax assessments (or other means) is beneficial for them to?

Here are my thoughts:

As Brunswick continues its post-Brunswick Naval Air Station transition, I firmly believe that an uncompromising commitment to the highest quality public school system not only attracts new families to the area but exciting new businesses and services as well.

This crucial transition period is not the time to be taking chances with our public schools if we’re trying to make a statement about the character and integrity of our town and our commitment to the future.

Some of my neighbors have already made the point about how the “perception” of a community’s school system affects property values.

“Perception” is the key word here because quantitative data such as test scores, graduation rates and college acceptances offer no guarantee of future performance.

However, when a town goes down the road of cutting funding to its schools, after it has already been conceded that doing so would negatively affect the quality of the schools, the “ perception” of prospective businesses and families considering moving to Brunswick is guaranteed to be negatively affected.

Imagine a prospective business considering an expansion to Brunswick Landing to manufacture wind turbines. Perhaps the business has narrowed its search down to two areas and has decided to meet with officials from each location to make the final determination on where to move. This is normally how these things play out. Let’s also assume that this company expansion would mean 50 new jobs for Brunswick.

It would be too easy for the local officials from the “other community” on the list to mention how, unlike Brunswick did in “ 2012,” their community places too high a value on education and would never cut funding to its school system when other viable options existed.

Some of you may not be aware or remember, but in 2008 Brunswick had the distinction of being named one of the top 100 “best places to live and launch” (i.e. start a business) by Money Magazine and CNN. Topping the reasons cited in the article was an “educated work force.”

As a further testament to Brunswick’s historical commitment to quality education and how it has affected the retirement crowd, in 2010 the town had the distinction of landing at number 19 on the “best places to retire in the U. S.,” again by Money Magazine and CNN.

It’s not too bold a prediction to say Brunswick wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in one of Frosty’s Donut Shop’s ovens of receiving such positive press in the future if it ventured down the road of budget cuts to education.

I know the expression I’m about to use is an overused cliché, but I believe it has never been used more appropriately than now: “Some residents will argue that they cannot afford any additional taxes in Brunswick. If all other attempts to properly fund education fail, I honestly believe we cannot afford not to raise taxes.”

Ben Dinsmore lives in Brunswick.

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