To the editor:

With this new year, I hope our town government will come to the realization that change must come to the way our town government chooses to govern and represent the people of Barrington. That with this new year all our voices will be heard and respected as citizens and taxpayers of this town. 

Also, I hope that we realize as a town that education cannot be a “Big Business," as that blights the ability to simply educate well. Education should not be bought or sold or touted or ruled by parents who ask that taxpayers pay for every want or perceived need for their children in the Barrington school system; schools that already provide a very good education.  

Parents, you have to pay on your own for the things you feel that you need for your child. Meaning resources that go beyond what a public school system normally would or could provide that are above and beyond the total expense of public schools that fellow taxpayers and those who do not or no longer have children in the system are asked to pay for. 

Public schools are not private schools.

And so my wish for this fresh new year is to bring openness, respect, and new ideas in the way this town is governed that will fully represent and respect all the households in Barrington.

Have a happy and hopeful new year!

Barbara Flanders

Barrington