Last Sunday there was an article in our local paper, The Boston Globe, about moms throughout the state rallying together to advocate for Proposition 2 1/2 overrides in their towns. For those of you who are not familiar, Proposition 2 1/2 “limits the amount of revenue a city or town may raise, or levy, from local property taxes each year to fund municipal operations.” (Massachusetts Municipal Association).

If a city or town needs more money – for example, if they want to build a new school or because they need more money due to rising costs or inflation – they can ask the voters to approve a 2 1/2 override. (That’s as technical as I’m going to get on this topic – click here if you want more information).

According to the Globe, these moms, termed by the paper as “override moms” are “politically powerful suburban women who lobby for property tax increases to pay for teachers, new schools, and better classroom gear for their school-aged children. Think soccer moms, with an activist bent.

“ In today's stalled-out economy - with municipal budget cuts and shrinking state aid - these mothers are leveraging their social connections, technical savvy, and professional skills to help bail out town budgets. They have protest placards mingling with sports gear in the back of their station wagons. Many work full-time jobs, then rush home to e-mail, organize, and raise money - sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars - in an effort to keep local schools ranked high on the MCAS.”

It was an interesting article that, apparently, struck a nerve. At least according to today's article from the Globe.

As a mom in one of the many towns rallying for a proposition 2 1/2 override, I find myself wondering…. Can I be an “anti-“ override mom?

It is a question I have struggled with ever since I became a mom, because it is not correct (politically or otherwise) to tell someone that you don’t want to give more money towards your child’s education. You are perceived not only as cheap, but as a bad (bad, bad) parent. We are not allowed to question the numbers behind the story because that would mean we are questioning the people that we have entrusted to educate our children. And we don’t dare speak up at local committee hearings, or cocktail parties, lest we be branded as troublemakers or anarchists.

Okay, I don’t actually know that these things actually happen, but I certainly worry about taking a stand that is so anti-mommy.

I’m also not saying that there are times when a city or town legitimately needs to ask for more money. In Natick, the town I grew up in, they are looking for funding to renovate or rebuild the high school. The place was a dump when I attended (I graduated in 1990) and I can’t imagine how it’s still standing today. But I question the need for an override just because things cost more.

Things do cost more – groceries, gas, daycare, clothing, summer camp, bus fees – so who is going to give us more money?

The answer for most of us, is no one. Instead we shift priorities, we make changes, we cut back, we make sacrifices. And we hope that someday things will cost less, or we can find a way to make more money.

I’m not convinced that our cities and towns do the same thing. Of course they make cuts, but they go after the easiest targets. Here in Ashland the town has cut the budget of our public library so drastically that they had to cut hours, run the place on a skeleton crew, and more troubling, apply for a waiver from the state to retain their accreditation. If I pass the override, will the town restore full funding to the library? I’m afraid the answer is going to be no.

And then there is the school system. They are sending home notices and leaving recorded messages about upcoming school budget hearings that will decide the fate of this year’s budget and my child’s academic future. How much money will they get? And how much do they REALLY need? One of my neighbors told me that she’ll believe the schools are really in trouble when they start cutting high-paid administrators, and not the lower paid junior teachers, from the payroll.

So I don’t know who, or what, to believe. I don’t think that my town has done anything to truly change the way we spend money, or to find new resources for tax revenue. I’m sure that if the override passes the town will continue to “fee” us to death (our school bus fee is doubling next year to $400 per child!). And I know that even if I do give my vote for an override, the money won’t go to where I think it should.

So I’m an anti-override mom.

You won’t see me holding up a placard or standing in front of the schools. And, I’ll admit it, I probably won’t argue with the PTO moms at they next Bunko party, or put a yard sign in my lawn. But I am paying attention, and I will be casting my vote.

Please don’t hate me. And don’t egg my car.