A Greek proverb says "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they may never sit."

I am heartsick that the voters turned down a pretty small investment in Westport through the override. I was optimistic, because I believed that the need was clear and the solution was carefully crafted to be less stressful on taxpayers. Full disclosure: I am not a Westport voter, but was honored to be invited to help the Override Ballot Campaign Committee to make the case for the override. These opinions are my own.

While those who voted "No" are entitled to their opinion, I am gobsmacked at the reason many said they voted against it: Because "the schools already get too much money." And "I don't have kids in the schools, so I'm not going to pay for it."

Huh. Did your kids get educated on the public dime? Did you? Other people educated yours; it's your turn to pitch in now.

And even if you don't have children, or send them to private schools, as part of a democracy we look to the government to do the things too big for individuals to tackle. An educated citizenry is one of those things. 

My dear old sainted dad, as conservative Republican as I ever knew, always voted YES for any local school funding request. He always said that it was his duty to send educated people into the world, and that since he wasn't an educator he was going to trust that the professionals knew what they needed and would use resources wisely.

There will be another ask, Westport, and you're going to have a deeper pit to dig out of. Consider next time to plant metaphorical trees that will benefit the generation growing up around you. 

S.C.Cameron

Barnstable