On May 21, voters in the Farmingdale School District get to choose how much they want to invest in the futures of their children and their community as they cast their ballots on the proposed school budget.

That's truly what a school budget is - not a "cost" - but an investment that pays dividends for years and years. One of my favorite bumper stickers says the same thing in another way: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

Of course, this is not to say that a school budget can ignore the financial realities of the residents it will be serving. The school board needs to take into account the needs of our children in the school system and the needs of the residents and businesses that finance those needs.

Every year it's a balancing act. This year, I think our school board has gotten that balance just right. I say this as the head of the Farmingdale Federation of Teachers and, perhaps even more important, as a longtime Farmingdale resident who will have to dig a little deeper next year just like you.

Our school district and, in fact, most districts on Long Island are facing financial problems this year because of the failure of the State Legislature to appropriate the state's fair share of the cost of educating our children.

It was not too many years ago that school aid funds from the State Legislature paid for about 50 percent of the cost of educating students. But in the last several years that share has slipped steadily to about 27 percent. You and I, of course, make up the difference.

To address these new realities, the Farmingdale School Board has gone over school costs with a fine-toothed comb. Some of the programs and services that didn't get funded locally this year will be sorely missed and would have contributed to a richer educational environment. But hard choices had to be made.

Based on my examination of the budget, I am convinced that the school board controlled all of the costs that it could and the result is a budget that will provide the type of quality education that Farmingdale residents expect and deserve for their children. It is a fair budget. It is a tight budget. It is a budget that will get the job done.

There are funds in the budget to assure the successful transition of sixth-graders into the middle school and there are enough funds to assure that all elementary, middle and high school students get the education they want and deserve.

In the months after Sept. 11, the Farmingdale community has rallied as few others in Nassau County to mourn the loss of our residents lost in that tragedy and to comfort and assist those left behind. Our community spirit and resolute determination to face the future before us has never been higher.

It is my sincere hope that this spirit and dedication expresses itself once more on May 21 in the form of an affirmative vote for a school budget that represents the best investment we will ever make in the futures of our children and our community.

Please, join with me in saying, "Yes!"