We all know who they are. The same 500 Woodstock voters, minions of Joe Breen & Company, who come out and always vote “yes” on any and every spending measure. Especially on that Sacred Cow known as Education. This is the proverbial “tax and spend crowd”. I’ve dubbed them “The Enlightened 500”. Reason? They think they know everything. At least, they assert they know what’s best for the rest of us, and they don’t make any bones about saying so. Loudly and  obnoxiously.

How about the arrogance they display when they disparage anyone who thinks differently than they do? Or, God forbid, any of us who think for ourselves?  If the rest of us question the crazy proposed spending measures the Boards of Selectmen and Education put out, why, we must be a bunch of stupid, uninformed dullards. My answer to that is: we may not have “walked with a professor in Harvard Yard”, but we certainly know when we’re being bamboozled. 

The same old rhetoric just doesn’t resonate with Woodstock taxpayers anymore. The shop-worn old phrase: “Our children’s futures depend on it”—meaning vaguely explained additional spending on education—isn’t being snapped up hook, line and sinker anymore. Time to come up with a new line, ye Enlightened Ones. Woodstock parents understand that all of your proposed spending increases go directly into administrative and teacher salaries and benefits. What does any of it have to do with educating our kids? NOTHING.

 Find your courage, Woodstock citizens, and question what the BOE tells you. They won’t like it, but after all, this is America and as far as I know, it’s still a democracy. You all have a right to question what you’re told. And you have the right to disagree. Make your voice heard—in front of the BOE and at the ballot box.

Verity