Joanne Mahoney, Public Policy Chair for AAUW Lansdale.
(The following is a Letter to the Editor from Joanne Mahoney, Public Policy Chair for AAUW Lansdale. The views expressed within are her own.)
I want to send this letter to the editor in hopes that my voice will be heard regarding the high school renovation project.
First let me introduce myself. I am 65, single with no children. I own my home in Upper Gwynedd. I recently retired at the beginning of 2023. I don’t have a pension, so money is tight. I live on a budget. I am making do, but there is not a lot of money left over. I moved to the North Penn area first in 1987. I was here for the first go around with building with the second high school. However, I did not get strongly involved as I had no children, and I could have handled the outcome either way.
Basically, it did not impact me. However, over the years I have enjoyed the fruits of living in a very well-respected school district. There are many academic as well as sports and musical achievements. I am proud of living here.
Fast forward almost 25 years, and it does impact me now. A school tax increase would be difficult as, yes, money is a bit tight. I have to think before going out to dinner. I am older and even less connected to the public school system. By all rights I should be championing against this. It is simply not in my best interests. I have no children: why would I support this? There are so many small "what about” issues, like the traffic and cost management, etc.
I have given this a lot of thought. It isn’t about senior citizens or the increase in taxes. It is about the state of education and how North Penn sees itself in the future.
We can’t look at education as it was when I went to school, where we had to memorize all the [residents and that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day and the Pythagorean theorem. Dr Bauer is correct. It isn’t necessary. What was so missing in the education of yesterday was any basis of teaching students how to think, or how to analyze anything. I know they tried, but it ended in the laps of freshman year in college.
They now have all sorts of ways to teach kids what they need for the skills in the future. It is all way beyond me. That is ok. I want to hand off the future. I served my time. Regardless, we must be ready, and we are not. We have to play catchup and, yes, it is hard to swallow that tax bill. But it is not about the educational theories of the past; it is about the future.
Now, I don’t even know if I will be alive when high school is complete. It is quite real to me. I have no "skin in the game” as they say. I never had kids in school. There is nothing to benefit me other than knowing that I have done my tiny piece to allow a second grader the ability to prepare for tomorrow.
We must do the right thing.
I do not want to close without saying that I still have questions. I think many of us do. We can’t possibly predict 30 years in the future. All I want is for my money to be spent wisely and responsibly.
I wish to be transparent that I am now involved with the American Association of University Women (AAUW). It is an advocacy group aimed at education and other issues impacting women and girls. The group sponsored the questionnaire sent to the school board candidates back in September. I am directly involved with public policy, as I feel very strongly on education and awareness in public issues, especially those that impact us on a day-to-day basis. That is mostly the local issues. I find a lack of awareness community wide on these issues.
I am voting YES.
Signed,
Joanne Mahoney
AAUW Lansdale
Public Policy Chair
