If the budget goes down to defeat on Tuesday, many important educational programs will be cut to shreds as the district will be forced into a contingency budget and required to hack more than $2 million off of its already reduced spending plan.

It will be a shame that people in power would let that happen. By this we mean not only the school board and the district administration, but the members of the community, too.

The sweeping defeat of the first school budget in May sent off an alarm bell that something was really broken in the district. "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore," many voters seemed to say.

We heard it and thought the school board and district administration got the message when they acknowledged that they needed to pare down their spending plan. Soon after the first budget was voted down, school board member Mel Comberiati and others said their goal was to limit an increase in spending to no more than 5.8 or 5.9 percent. We think they were on target. But somehow that number mushroomed up to 6.1 percent for a base budget (Proposition One) with an optional .8 percent for additional spending, as proposed in Proposition Two.

In our opinion, that is not a lot of belt-tightening from the first budget go-round, which proposed an 8.52 percent increase over last year spending. We think the school board and administration took a risky gamble in proposing such a high base budget and tacking Proposition 2 onto the ballot. We wish we had other choices.

But we don't.

That said, we urge the community to support the budget in Proposition One, We also think the $488,500 proposed spending in Proposition Two represents reasonable costs directly related to the task of educating our children in a safe environment.

We're disheartened that more people didn't become part of the process and speak Lip along the way, suggesting ways to make the tough cuts. The community should contribute to the problem solving, not just have veto power. We've heard the rumblings: it's the excessive teachers and administrators' salaries, But the majority of those salaried positions are contractually obligated to increases, increases that we think are, in fact, extremely favorable to the taxpayers. (?)(The latest teachers' contract, which was negotiated in 1998, provides for zero percent increase in year one, 3.2 percent in  years two and three, and 3.3 percent, increase in year four.)

Why is it that instead of expending all that energy on berating the school board"' and administration, critics haven't offered workable solutions - like terminate administrator "Y' and spread that person's job responsibilities to "A," "B" and "C," without increasing their pay, of course. Could it be that those cuts aren't so easy after all; that there are no guarantees in this extremely volatile labor market that a district could still retain good people?(?)

We hope that all registered voters will go to the polls on Tuesday', June 20, to make their voices heard on the Bedford Central School budget. We'd like to say as loudly as we can that the school district didn't go far enough in trimming the budget.(?) In fact, we'd like to say it particularly for those of you who are thinking that a "no" vote is appropriate. We're stating this today in the hopes that those who feel that way would feel compelled to say it through the voting booth on Tuesday.

The Record-Review wholeheartedly thinks that a contingency budget would be devastating (?)to the Bedford Central School District and its students. Even if the district were to terminate every top administrator, from Dr. Dennis down to the school principals, the board would still have to cut dollars from its spending to meet a contingency budget.

A contingency budget is too severe.(?) It would cut too deeply. Wounds like that take a long time to heal. We ask the voters to look at this as a process.

Whether you voted for him or not, Joe Whelan, a fiscal conservative, will take his board seat in July. Although Mr. Whelan will occupy only one seat, we know he will alter the complexion of future budget deliberations. Let him and the rest of the board have something to work with. Don't cripple Bedford Central schools with a contingency budget. Don't be so frustrated and angry that the district finds itself four steps backwards. That would be a shame.

The Record-Review supports a "yes" vote on both Proposition One and Proposition Two at the polls on Tuesday, June 20. The polls will be open at attendance area elementary schools from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.