Next Tuesday, May 16, is the day to show your support for our children, and for our future. Vote "yes" for our school budget. And even though board of education trustees Donald Ashkenase and Barbara Berkowitz are both running uncontested, give them your vote and your support.

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the Baker Elementary School and South High.

Don't leave it to "the other guy;" let your vote count. Go to the polls and let the community know for certain that you believe in the Great Neck Public Schools and that you want the best for all of our children, that you want the best possible future for all of us. Let everyone know that you support top-notch education and that you appreciate that our public schools are a major reason for Great Neck's solid reputation and for the consistently high value placed on our real estate.

In spite of a very diverse population, many children with special needs, and a crushing list of unfunded government mandates, the Great Neck Public Schools address the needs of each and every child and consistently remain at the top of every list of outstanding schools. Just look at Page 1 this week and see how incredibly high our high schools just ranked (again) in the Newsweek annual survey of "America's Best High Schools." If you really read this list of excellent schools, you will notice that almost all of the schools above our North High's 23rd ranking are schools for only academically gifted children.

Our schools educate not just the top students, but every student, at every level. And our school district also makes a major effort to include academically challenged students right here in their home schools. Think about the effort, and the funds, it takes to provide an outstanding education to every child, no matter what. Then consider the long list of mandates that absolutely must be met, no matter how little government money the schools receive. Think about the skyrocketing cost for necessary items such as fuel and electricity. And think about cutting items --- you can't cut heat and lights, but do you want to cut out teachers? Then read Newsweek, or any other such list, and say "thank you" to our school district. They "do it all" year in and year out, with, what I know to be, the smallest budget increase possible to maintain our extraordinary schools.

Please come out and vote on May 16! Vote your support for a continuing outstanding education for all of our children. Vote "yes" for the school budget!

- Wendy Karpel Kreitzman