Letter: District Cuts Are Not Scare Tactics

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April 10, 2026

To the Editor:

My wife and I bought our home in Pickerington in 2014 with a very specific goal in mind: to raise our future children in a strong school district. Exactly 364 days later, we had our first child. Today, with a kindergartener and a fifth grader in Pickerington schools, that decision has become one of the most important we’ve ever made.

A strong public education is something many of us take for granted. It’s the foundation that allows people to become capable, independent, and productive members of society. When that foundation is weak, the long-term consequences are real: fewer opportunities, more struggle, and a harder path forward in life.

Most everyone who votes on May 5th benefited from a public education that someone else helped pay for. That investment made a difference in our lives, whether we realize it or not. That’s true regardless of political ideology.

I’ve also heard calls for “belt-tightening.” But when the district outlines what those cuts would actually look like, those same warnings are dismissed as scare tactics. The reality is that cuts are belt-tightening! And there isn’t some hidden pot of money that can be trimmed without affecting anyone. These decisions have real consequences.

Those realities have only been made more challenging by recent decisions at the state level. Last summer, the state legislature reduced funding by tens of millions of dollars for Pickerington Schools over the next few years. At the same time, the message from the state has been clear: maintaining strong schools is increasingly the responsibility of local communities.

As a parent, I think about what those consequences mean. They impact the quality of education my kids receive, and the experience of more than 12,000 students across Pickerington. That’s not abstract—that’s classrooms, opportunities, and outcomes.

I want my kids to have the same kind of high-quality education I was fortunate to receive here in Central Ohio. I want them to have access to the same opportunities, the same preparation, and the same chance to succeed in adulthood. That’s not something I’m willing to take for granted.

For our family, this is about protecting the strength of our schools and the future opportunities they create for our children.