As mentioned in this week's board of education story, a resident commented on the huge amount of students in attendance at the budget presentation, "This is the best civics lesson I have ever seen..." And it has been consistently impressive over the past few months to see not only students, but many different residents attending and interacting at the board meetings... democracy at work.

Not to seem dramatic, but people died and fought so that each of us could demand answers from our leaders and offer suggestions based on our own insights and instincts and ask, "Is there anything else you can do?" In Glen Cove, the evidence points to hardworking board members overseeing good administrators, generally trying their best to do a solid, honest job. It would be great if every governing body was addressed so comprehensively by a room full of people with questions and demands on a regular basis.

People with various solutions to program cuts that may or may not be feasible were asking, "Where is the line-by-line budget?" This paper expects that the line-by-line budget is the board's best effort at making many people happy with limited resources in hard times. But, at the same time, it is commendable to be asking. It should happen in more places.

-M.A.P.