Anonymous Letters

I cannot begin to count how many times I have thought about writing an anonymous letter.  Maybe a letter to inform someone that they are severely incorrect about something or maybe a letter to blow off some steam or maybe even a letter to tattle on someone else.  I've thought about it so many times, but I have never followed that impulse and actually pulled the trigger.  Maybe just the act of fantasizing about it is enough for me.

This is not true for everyone else.  As a school board president, I get anonymous letters.  Sometimes the letters are from teachers, sometimes the letters are from past students, but usually the letters are from a community member who thinks we are complete idiots on the school board.  Although some people are more than happy to tell us to our faces, there are many who would rather just spell it out in an anonymous letter.

I received this letter from a "Frustrated Taxpayer" this week.  This person was not unreasonable at all.  I don't know why he (judging by the writing) didn't go ahead and sign it.  He made some very good points.  I wish I could sit down with him and talk about it.  I'm sure a lot of the decisions we make look rather stupid to someone who wasn't at every workshop, didn't read all the information and doesn't know all the  mitigating factors.  I get frustrated too -- and I'm supposedly someone with a little power.  Right now my husband and I can't afford another penny in taxes, but pay we must.  The public school system in this country is going to have to be redefined pretty soon if we stay on this current dwindling financial path.  School board members constantly think about educational quality and how to deliver it for less and less money.  There are pressures from all directions.  Everybody hates taxes, but good or bad, we live in a county where we all contribute to the common good and educating children is part of that.