Dear Editor,
My name is Katie Cole, and I am a kindergarten teacher at Killam Elementary School.
For over two decades, I have poured my heart into the children of Reading. I have celebrated their victories, worried about their struggles, advocated for their needs, and carried their stories home with me long after the school day ends.
Over the years, student needs have changed significantly and childhood has too! One thing remains unchanged. Children need people. They need relationships. They need to feel safe, supported, understood, and valued. They need adults with the time and resources to meet them where they are as individuals.
I wish every member of our community could spend just one day in my classroom to witness the hundreds of small, beautiful, exhausting, and deeply important moments that make up a school day.
Watch a child who has struggled for weeks finally recognize a word. Watch a student who once stood alone at recess find the courage to ask someone to play. Watch a child find their passion, place, and interest area. Watch a child who has never believed they could do something suddenly beam with pride and announce, "I did it!"
Then, look around at the MANY adults who helped make those moments happen.
Those moments don't appear on a budget spreadsheet. But they matter. They matter enormously and the most.
I am not alone in this belief and observation. There are extraordinary educators throughout this district who give everything they have, every single day.
I understand the financial concerns surrounding the override. The cost of doing less isn't measured in dollars. It’s measured in the children who stop raising their hands, the students who begin believing they aren't “smart” enough, or the ones whose needs go unnoticed.
Dedication cannot replace staffing. Love cannot replace services. No amount of passion can create more hours in a school day or allow one adult to be in five places at once.
Our children get one childhood. One kindergarten year. One seventh grade year. One senior year and so on. We cannot give those years back when finances improve. We cannot ask a struggling child to wait until the next budget cycle to receive the support they need today. Those are costs our children should never carry.
When I speak about my students, I call them "my kids." But they're our kids. Your kids. The children of this community. They are worth investing in, protecting, and showing up for.
Please keep our children at the center of this conversation. Not the politics. Not the disagreements. Not the numbers.
The children.
Long after this override vote is over, they will still be walking through our classroom doors, looking to us for everything they need to learn, grow, and thrive. When they look to us, I hope we can say we did everything possible to support them in every aspect of their development and learning.
Sincerely,
Katie Cole
Kindergarten Teacher, Killam Elementary School