I read of a movement to recall a Republican member of the Board of Education for his vote to close Simon Lake School. I understand that parents and supporters of education alike are frustrated, disappointed and disillusioned with their elected officials and have nowhere else to turn. Still, the decision to hastily close a school and reconfigure the entire education system without any real understanding of its impact to children, parents, our community or the quality of education is not Mr. White's alone.

The problem began with the Republicans on the Board of Aldermen who voted to slash education while cutting not one dime from the city side of the budget. I, and many others in the community, pleaded with the Board of Aldermen to make cuts from the city budget which could fairly offset some of the 2.2 million in cuts from the proposed Board of Education budget. We believed that with offsetting cuts from the city side, a decision as significant as reconfiguring all of Milford's schools and closing a community school might be forestalled, providing more time for parents to actively participate in a decision making process which will directly impact their lives.

Republicans on the Board of Aldermen refused to cut one penny from the city budget. They voted along Party lines to slash education funding knowing full well that their vote would turn the lives of parents, children and a community upside down. Aldermen Greg Smith, Paula Smith and Frank Goodrich, who represent the Simon Lake district, signed on as well to shut down their local school. Reasonable people would agree that our position was fair. We argued only for more time to better understand the impacts, costs and logistics. We did not say the plan was good or bad, right or wrong, only that a few weeks was not enough time to assess this far reaching proposal.

The Board of Education followed suit, voting thumbs up on the plan without any notable concern for the lack of public involvement or the significant impact such changes would foist upon so many families across our city. It is at least bewildering that so suddenly and so urgently, seemingly out of nowhere, Milford needed this dramatic transformation right now. In my opinion the process was wrong, the votes of the Boards were wrong and the parents and children of Milford were done wrong. We deserved more respect and consideration than the process and the people responsible for it afforded us.