The parents of Newtown have every right to demand and expect our Board of Education to consider our needs. After all, are we not the ones paying the hefty price tag for the education of our children? In response to the community’s plea for cut backs in a time of economic difficulty, our superintendent chose to make those cuts in areas that would inconvenience and anger parents the most, busing and extra-curricular activities. Sadly, the children are the victims in the end.

The middle school students are forced to wake up at an ungodly hour to catch their buses and return to an unsupervised home for an even longer period of time. For that you blame the parents! Clearly you have the privilege to stay at home and raise your children. Count your blessings! For most working parents, two incomes is not a choice, it is a necessity. Have you checked out the price of a modest starter home in Newtown or anywhere in this area? Prices start well in excess of $300,000. Not to mention taxes and utilities. This is not about ambition or materialism. It’s about providing for the basic needs of our children in a decent community. I would be more than happy to give up my Mercedes or a European vacation to be home waiting with milk and cookies when my child arrived from school. Unfortunately, that’s not my reality.

If you want to know about sacrifice, try walking in the shoes of a working parent for a few days. After ten hours of working and commuting, we get to come home and cram into four or five hours what you do in an entire day. I’m not complaining, it’s our responsibility as parents to work hard to provide and care for our children, and I do it gladly. I am also not trying to diminish the role of stay-at-home moms. The mothers in my daughter’s school work tirelessly to enrich the education of all our children. As far as relying on others to “lift my burden,” I resent your referring to my children as a burden. I am fortunate to be surrounded by a very supportive network of mothers, working and nonworking alike, who have volunteered to help me out more times than I can count. These women understand the challenges that I face, and I am eternally grateful to them all. This is not to imply that I am not there for my children, because every waking moment that I am not working, I am theirs. They know it and I know it. To imply that a working parent has their priorities backwards is an insult. May I suggest that you hop down from your “Mother of the Year” pedestal and take a look beyond your own backyard. Instead of pointing the finger of criticism, why don’t you try helping your neighbor. I guarantee it will be much more satisfying.

Finally, with regard to your remarks about the Brucia family; you should be ashamed. Carli would be alive to day had she just waited a few extra minutes. Her dad was on his way to pick her up when she was kidnapped. She was never expected to find her own way home. The next time you decide to point the finger of blame at the grieving parents of a murdered child, try getting your facts straight!

Marybeth Rice

Dodgingtown                                                                    March 1, 2004