Hard Budget Choices Facing New Governor
January 10, 2007
Boston Herald
Letters to the Editor
One Herald Square
Boston, MA 02118
To the editor:
Dave Wedge's column on the hard budget choices facing the new governor ("Hey Deval, start with dance lessons when you’re looking for budget cuts," January 9, 2007) succumbs to the sort of simplistic reasoning that keeps too many young people in our state stuck in neutral. Taken on their own, most children's activities can be made to sound frivolous, whether they’re Cambodian dance lessons, midnight basketball, or learning French. They're kids after all, and the most successful kids’ activities combine learning, healthy relationships with peers and adults, and plain old fun. But a lot of kids' activities, taken together as part of a comprehensive strategy to help struggling students stay in school and succeed, are absolutely essential to keeping our young people engaged and moving forward.
A legislative aide quoted in Wedge's column commented, “As far as I know, there is no Cambodian folk dancing crisis in the state.” Of course there isn't. But there is a dropout crisis of staggering proportions (over 40 percent in Boston) and a tragic youth violence epidemic. We need every tool at our disposal to keep kids engaged in positive activities so they will succeed in school and society. Given the millions we've invested in education reform over the past decade and the millions more we're spending on prisons, a few thousand dollars spent on arts and other high-impact youth activities is a small and worthy price to pay.
Sincerely,
Stephen M. Pratt
President
Boston After School & Beyond leads a partnership of the City of Boston, the local philanthropic community, and the city’s business and civic leadership to design and implement a successful youth strategy for the children of Boston.