Editor:

The upcoming referendum directly affects the education of our children. If the referendum does not pass, the Rhinelander school board has laid out a precise list of cuts that will be made. All of these cuts directly impact the children in our educational system.

An education is the foundation on which our children build their future. When we take away their opportunities, we not only affect them in the short term, but greatly impact their long term choices as well.

Many college applications ask the students to submit their class listings and to note any advanced placement (AP) classes taken. When we cut these classes, our students will be unable to compete with other college applicants which have a better educational foundation. Advanced placement courses also allow our students to study at a college level while still in high school. They are then better able to make an informed decision about their future college career because they are already exposed to college courses.

Rhinelander High School recently received an award by the college board for outstanding achievement in the area of advanced placement exams. Why would we want to take away a nationally recognized program? Why do we want to eliminate something our teachers and students excel at?

Generally, class cuts will impact our students’ long-term futures as they will not have had the educational opportunities to take the above-mentioned AP offerings or the technical and engineering, family and consumer science, business or music classes that we have given to generations before them. School is a time to discover where a person’s talents and interests lie. Why not give them the opportunity to learn what they are best at?

We need to look beyond ourselves, toward the greater picture, and the things which affect the children. Others have made sacrifices before us so that we could have a strong educational foundation; isn’t it time that we do the same and speak up for the education of our own children?

Shelly Anderson, Lake Tomahawk