The undersigned voters of the town Of Brookfield, CT support an Education Budget of $34.6 million for next year. This is required in order to maintain current staffing and programs. The $33.6 million the Board of Finance is proposing is $476,241 less than spending for the current fiscal year. We urge the Board of Finance to give us the opportunity to approve the $34.6 million school budget before such an austere budget is adopted. Failure to do so will force the Board of Education to consider such drastic measures as closing Center School, eliminating enrichment and honors classes, eliminating sports and co-curricular activities, or eliminating 17 staff positions. 35 staff positions have already been eliminated in the past three years. In addition, if the current state law requiring towns to fund their education budget at the same level as current year remains, our town will be penalized $2 in state aid for every $1 the education budget falls below the appropriate level. This means the town could lose $952,482 in state aid!