To the Editor:

On November 6, 2007, the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (EUPISD) will be asking again for a millage increase in order to "enhance" their operations. This same request has been made in the past and was greeted with a resounding defeat by the voters within the district. With our economy in such dire condition, high unemployment, the State of Michigan on the brink of shutting down at midnight September 30, untold numbers of foreclosures appearing in the newspapers, businesses closing, vacant business buildings throughout the entire U.P., what makes the EUPISD think that the voters can afford such a millage request?

On September 13, there were two Letters to the Editor that appeared in your paper, both of which addressed this same issue. Both letters were well written and brought out excellent reasons why such a millage should be soundly defeated again.

I think that the EUPISD needs to have an alternate plan in place in case current funding does not meet their budget requirements. It is unclear exactly why there is a need for this millage, and to date, I have seen no response from the EUPISD justifying their millage increase request. In private business, concessions have to be made in order to survive the economic climate, and the same should hold true for the school districts. The voters have to do this all the time with their own personal budgets, so why can't the EUPISD do the same?

The number one concern should be for providing a good education for our children. The wages of the administrators and teachers are very much in line, and in such difficult economic times, I do not think wage and benefit increases should be their number one priority. It may be necessary for all employees to make wage and benefit concessions in order to keep their jobs, that is what the private sector has to do. There are too many unanswered questions to justify the voters to "blindly" approve a millage increase.

I urge all voters within the EUPISD to be sure and get out and vote November 6. If you are not registered, do so now. If you will be absent, obtain an absentee ballot, now, and send yet another message to the EUPISD: "No Millage Increase!"

Vote "No" to the EUPISD millage increase request.

James Bishop

St. Ignace