Jackson resident supporting Hanlon, Fiero Well, it's that time for another election for the Jackson Board of Education. My children are no longer in the school system and I find myself paying more attention to the amount of dollars I spend on the school budget each year. My concerns are to make sure our children are growing up to be responsible members of our community and hopefully a large number will see the value of continuing on with college. I want this because I want my community to stay strong, to be one of the "great" communities to live in. I've managed budgets of several million dollars and I know how hard it is to adhere to the strict requirements of the state and the demands of the technological future along with the well rounded desires for sports and artistic endeavors. So I look to see, who is running this time? Who should get my vote? Will the incumbents be a better bet then the others on the ticket? I think yes, they will be. I am supporting Barbara Fiero and Mike Hanlon for several reasons. First, they have the experience needed to make informed decisions to keep the budget low, they have already been thrown to the wolves (so to speak) and have managed to move our educational system forward as exemplified by the rising test scores and higher percentage of our high school children going on to further education. They are well aware of how to best meet the demands of the state for our special education children and still bring in our costs at a substantially lower "cost per student" basis than many of our competing communities. I do not know why people take on the enormous time and effort needed to be on the board - certainly it is a labor of love. Barbara and Mike love our community - they have lived here for a long time- and are experts in how to keep our tax dollars as low as possible while still ensuring we are producing well educated young adults. I know they don't want any accolades for their work, but I can't help but admire all they do for us and our community. Please get out and vote and keep these great people on our Board of Education. Karen Dempsey Jackson