Important to be thinking about education now

It is the summer, and I know the last thing any of us want to do is to think about school. However, I am going to ask every student, every parent, every grandparent and every person who cares about the future of public education in North Carolina to think about school this week.

In fact, I am going to ask you to do more than just think about school. I am going to ask you to be an advocate for public education.

The N.C. House and Senate are currently working to find some common ground on a budget. Times are tough, and everything will be cut.

But, the plans for public education funding are plans that could erase a decade of progress made in classrooms across this state.

You can review the proposed budget online if you have some time. If you do not have the time to review it in detail, make time to send an e-mail to members of the House and Senate. Let them know that public education is something you care about as a member of the community.

In this age of technology when most people have cell phones that operate like mini computers, some of you won't even have to type a letter, make a call or step over to the computer. If you send the e-mail from your Blackberry while you are lounging on the beach, that works, too.

What is important is that our representatives understand that this is not the time in our state, nation or world to go backward with public education. We have made leaps and bounds in the past decade, and we need to continue moving forward.

If you think funding of public education isn't relevant to you, think again. The quality of public education in this state has an impact on every aspect of our lives.

From the students currently enrolled who may no longer have access to college-level classes they have become accustomed to taking to the retired generation depending on a well-educated generation to lead this country forward, education matters.

This is one summer when we need to make sure that we don't forget about school until late August.

You can access the e-mail addresses and contact information for all of our representatives at the state Web sites for both the Senate and the House. If you need help figuring it all out, contact me using the e-mail address at the bottom of this column and I will help you.

Remember when you contact the representatives that they have a difficult job and a very challenging task in trying to make this budget work. Let them know with respect how much the decisions they are about to make regarding public education funding matters to you and your family.

Please don't wait, hoping that it will all go away. If we don't advocate now for our children and grandchildren, not to mention our neighbors who are working as teachers and teacher assistants in classrooms across this community, when the school bell rings for a new academic year, it may very well be too late.

Take a few minutes this summer and become an advocate for public education. You will be making an investment of time in the future of this entire community - young and old.

Kim Smith is a member of the Craven County Board of Education and the mother of two daughters.